Tag: love for god

Love Is the Answer (Romans 13:8-14)

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

Reconciliation by Josefina de Vasconcellos

Let love be your only debt! If you love others, you have done all that the Law demands. In the Law there are many commands, such as, “Be faithful in marriage. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not want what belongs to others.” But all of these are summed up in the command that says, “Love others as much as you love yourself.” No one who loves others will harm them. So love is all that the Law demands.

You know what sort of times we live in, and so you should live properly. It is time to wake up. You know that the day when we will be saved is nearer now than when we first put our faith in the Lord. Night is almost over, and day will soon appear. We must stop behaving as people do in the dark and be ready to live in the light. So behave properly, as people do in the day. Don’t go to wild parties or get drunk or be vulgar or indecent. Don’t quarrel or be jealous.Let the Lord Jesus Christ be as near to you as the clothes you wear. Then you won’t try to satisfy your selfish desires. (Contemporary English Version)

No matter the question about law, love is the answer.

There is one singular obligation that Christians have toward both the Church and others in the world: Love. The highest expression of love transcends not only the Law of Scripture, but also the law of the land around us. The unifying principle and perfect summation of law is to love your neighbor as yourself.

Love is one of those things that is not to be checked-off of some personally contrived list of things to do for the day, as if once we do our one good deed for the day, the rest of the day is ours.

No, love is the entirety and the ultimate goal of God’s continuing guidance and instruction for us throughout every day. Love also goes well beyond avoiding hurting another; love is constantly on the lookout for ways to express itself in others’ lives.

Can you imagine how much the U.S. Department of Justice would change overnight if it adopted this biblical command to have love at the center of every single decision it makes?

The love that has been given to us, from the Lover our souls, is meant to be practical, persistent, and pervasive. Love begins with seeing others and valuing them, even if they are very different from ourselves (i.e. the immigrant, the homeless, the mentally ill, etc.)

And that love is expected to grow into a concern of practical care. Love helps carries another’s back-breaking burden. Love seeks to support and advocate, to be generous and willing to sacrifice on behalf of the others. Love not only is to undergird the Law of Scripture, but it is also meant to be the base from which the law of the land is built.

“Love is a human dynamic of wrapping one’s self around another person or thing and deeply investing in it with the core of one’s being.” Nijay Gupta

At the least, and at it’s core, love is a deep human propensity toward bonding with another. For example, giving a plastic bottle of water to a homeless person is a good deed, but love seeks connection and relationship.

My late brother-in-law had a practice, when walking to work, of stopping and sitting down with a homeless person nearly every day. He brought two brown bags with him, so that he could share the other. They would sit and talk. The person was seen, acknowledged, listened to, and loved.

What we most need to grasp about the Apostle Paul and his instructions to all the churches is that the primary aspect of every Christian is to know God’s love for the world, especially its people. When that happens, God’s redeeming and transforming work comes through Christians who love – which then returns to God and loves God.

Hate has no place in God’s agenda for the people of this world. This is why Paul takes pains to point out the angry, fearful, and hateful things we are not to do, as well as the love we are to do.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8, NIV)

Distance and detachment are the soil of hate. Anything that tries to separate us as humans has a distinct smell of fire in the air.

Love has kind and civil speech behind it. Love is a discourse between people. Love is not some sort of coldhearted need that we grit our teeth doing. I admit that love is not my first thought whenever watching the news about the current U.S. President and his Cabinet, because there is a lot of fire around its golden calf.

Yet, my response is to connect with God, and to have connections with all sorts of people, no matter what their politics and thinking are. And, yes, I can do it all in love. When you consistently pray for anyone every day for a long time, it’s hard to hate them, even though you still detest their words and actions.

To keep up dialogues with others in a political camp that is, to me, dangerous helps me to wonder “What happened to them to have such a stance?” instead of “What’s wrong with this crazy mind?” The combination of heart, will, and action serves me well; that’s because this is what love involves.

Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. (Romans 6:17, NLT)

The Apostle Paul’s theology is thoroughly conceived and proclaimed in love; and he used a cluster of terms to talk about the great love that he himself experienced and wanted others to experience, as well. Words such as “grace,” “faith,” “compassion,” “mercy,” and “kindness” are all ways of speaking the nuances of God’s love and the Christian’s love for neighbor.

Although Paul gets a lot of talk amongst Christians concerning faith, justification, and redemption, the very heart of all of it all is that Christ’s atonement was conceived in love within the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Spirit.

Love is the real distinguishing mark of Christ-following and Spirit-filled churches and Christians. Anything less is neither following in the steps of Jesus, nor possessing the Lord’s given Spirit. If you find God, then you have found love, and vice versa.

Finally, love is such a large dynamic force that we have a lifetime opportunity of growing our hearts as big as our heads. If we come to see that we don’t want to harm others or fantasize about their undoing, then we know we’re on the right track toward putting our spiritual effort into the development of love.

You will be doing the right thing if you obey the law of the Kingdom, which is found in the scripture, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” (James 2:8, GNT)

Holy God, you call us to righteousness and light. Teach us the undivided law of love, so that we may love people even as you do, love you with all our will and strength, and find our freedom in blessed loving speech and service to others, taught to us in word and deed by our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

You Are Not Far From the Kingdom of God (Mark 12:28-34)

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

One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” 

Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 

Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; and ‘to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 

When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question. (New Revised Standard Version)

Jewish religious leaders in the New Testament Gospels – high priests, scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, the Sanhedrin – are typically portrayed in a negative light as opponents of Jesus. However, there are religious leaders in the Gospel accounts who genuinely engage Jesus, and are favorable to him.

Today’s Gospel lesson provides us with a wonderful conversation between Jesus and a scribe (that is, a professional handwriting copier of the Scriptures). This particular scribe is not mentioned by name.

The scribe was impressed by what he heard from Jesus. So, the man presented a question to him. The difference between this scribe and the other religious leaders is that the scribe asked a totally sincere question, with no alternative agenda to entrap Jesus. The guy just wanted to learn from him.

The Old Testament law contains 613 commands. Given the reality of so many instructions, which ones are priority? Are there commands which control other commands? What is the best way to look at the hundreds of divine instructions? The scribe’s question was really designed to discover how to best obey the law and be faithful to God.

There was no pondering or hesitation on Christ’s response. He went right to a foundational text for Jews. The passage serves as both a prayer and a succinct affirmation of faith:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Deuteronomy 6:4-5, NRSV

Yahweh is honored in this Scripture as the one true God. As such, Israel has an obligation to love and obey God. For Jesus, this is the cornerstone of faith and worship.

But that’s not all. Jesus provided a second commandment, on the same level of importance as the first:

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

Leviticus 19:18b, NRSV

I find it interesting that Jesus did not simply assume that everyone would understand that to love God is to love your neighbor. Christ intentionally gave the second command equal billing with the first.

To make it especially clear, Jesus emphasized that these two commands to love God and neighbor are the greatest commandments of all. In other words, every single command of Holy Scripture is tied to these two basic commands.

Indeed, the Ten Commandments are connected to them. The first four commands (you shall have no other gods; you shall not make yourself an idol and bow down to it; you shall not make wrongful use of God’s name; and remember the Sabbath) all have to do with loving God.

The next six commands (honor your father and mother; you shall not murder; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not covet) all concern how to be loving to your neighbor.

Jesus intends for pious people to be concerned not only with their relation to God, but also with other people. Religious practices, for Jesus, must not only include devotion directed to God, but also commitments to the common good of all persons.

In order to truly love God, one must also love neighbor. The two are inextricably bound together.

Those who say, “I love God,” and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. (1 John 4:20, NRSV)

To the scribe’s credit, he affirmed the answer from Jesus concerning the commandments. And on top of this, the scribe added a beautiful paraphrasing of God’s law: The command to love God and neighbor “is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

This scribe was talking Christ’s language. Jesus delighted in his words. He commended and encouraged the man by saying, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

Christ’s statement is a positive one, not negative. Jesus was not trying to say that the scribe wasn’t yet in the kingdom, or that he needed to do more. He was affirming the scribe, and encouraging him with the reality that God’s kingdom is so close to us, that we can reach out and put our hand into it.

The kingdom of God is like a whole other world which can be found by some children in the back of a wardrobe; or like a different dimension beyond our three dimensional world. In other words, God’s kingdom is right here, right in front of our faces. The kingdom is here. It’s just a matter of whether we discern it’s presence, or not.

Jesus was right smack in front of the scribe. He could have literally reached out and touched Jesus. The man asked a good sincere question of Jesus, and got a good sincere answer. In addition, the man evidenced a good understanding of the spirit of God’s law.

I believe that Christ’s response concerning the kingdom to the scribe, opened his eyes to that otherworldly dimension:

Jesus is the logical and expected end of every search, and the answer to every question. The kingdom of God is among you.

Our Father in heaven,
    may your name be revered as holy.
    May your kingdom come.
    May your will be done
        on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

You Live For Whatever You Love (Luke 16:14-18)

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

The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.

“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it. It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.

“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. (New International Version)

No one can serve two masters. Everyone is committed to something, based upon who or what they are truly serving. Everybody has a master which informs them of ultimate values in life.

In other words, we live for what or whom we love.

Money

The Gospel writer Luke flatly and unequivocally mentioned the Pharisees as loving money. They lived for it. Money was their ultimate value.

With money as master, God is not.

If one’s thoughts, desires, and motives are fueled by Master Money, then that person can say they love and serve God, but they would be lying through their teeth.

If one’s activities are dominated by investments, buying and selling, and conversations with financial planners, then it isn’t God to whom they are praying; Mammon is their God.

The servants of Master Money may attempt to justify themselves, and rationalize their service to Mammon. They might talk about how much they give to charitable organizations, support their local church with monetary gifts, and underwrite a community building project. Yet, the real muster of benevolence is to whom all the money is truly being directed.

Money itself is not the problem; it’s the love of money that’s the issue (1 Timothy 6:10). Such a love of money had taken root into the Pharisee’s heart. They were offended by the words of Jesus, who exposed their true master.

Kingdom

The religious leaders claimed to be all about the Mosaic Law – which is why Jesus addressed this. In Christ’s view, the law and the prophets were until John the Baptist. John’s ministry caused a kerfuffle, because he was the forerunner of Messiah. He pointed to Jesus as the hoped for Savior.

The kingdom of God was at hand. But the religious establishment was too rooted in money as their ultimate deliverer.

Jesus is the Son over God’s house, and the Ruler of God’s empire. Christ is the kingdom. Since the time of John, the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is pressing into it.

Multitudes of people flocked and followed Jesus in his earthly ministry. They listened to him talk of God’s kingdom being near. They seized hold of it, striving and pressing to get in.

There were folks who dropped everything, gave up everything, and forsook everything, just to pursue the kingdom of God. Their press toward the kingdom was a reflection of their values. And money had nothing to do with it.

Those who are Christians, in name only, may know something of Jesus and might talk a good line of theology, but they are far from the kingdom of God. They talk, but they don’t press. Someone who presses cries out with the psalmist:

How lovely is your dwelling place,
    Lord Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints,
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
    for the living God. (Psalm 84:1-2, NIV)

Someone who presses is ready and willing to do some heavy spiritual lifting. They’ll put in the time and the effort toward the kingdom of God. It’s Jesus they think about, not money.

Law

Believers and followers of Jesus are concerned for what God cares about. And Jesus was concerned about Holy Scripture. He intended on keeping every jot and tittle of the Torah, the Law.

Although we have many differing interpretations of varying passages in the Bible, Jesus is still concerned for the fulfillment of all God’s good promises. Our own angst about upholding the Bible isn’t shared by Christ. Our arguments and divisions don’t sway Jesus into our anxiety.

Christ knows that every word of God shall not fail. It would be easier for the world to spontaneously blow up than for any one word of God to fall away unfulfilled. Money and stuff will pass away, but not God’s Word.

The basic moral and ethical will and law of God hasn’t gone anywhere. Just because the Ten Commandments are not posted publicly anywhere, doesn’t mean they have disappeared.

God’s holy law is like a mirror in front of us, showing us how we are to judge ourselves. The Apostle Paul likened the law to a schoolmaster that drives us to Christ (Galatians 3:24-27).

Furthermore, the law acts as a restraint to evil in the world. It has the value of revealing to us what is not pleasing to God. And if I am pressing into the kingdom of God, I want to know what God loves and hates.

The Pharisees were supposedly the experts in God’s law. Some folks are quite hard on the Pharisees. Yet, rather than bashing on them as a group of people, we need to let the law be our own mirror; we must be concerned with our own righteousness, or lack thereof.

It’s easy for us, along with the old Pharisees, to be legalists – adding principles and traditions to the law that are not the law itself. Holding to these traditions can become as important, or more, as the actual law. They can end up becoming the standard we judge everything by, instead of the actual law, as it is.

Divorce

The morass of traditions surrounding the law is what Jesus was referring to in speaking about divorce. Christ had no use for a husband who could divorce his wife for various incidents, including not being pretty anymore, breaking a dish, or burning the toast.

All of that rigmarole was why Jesus came back to affirming the sanctity of marriage. He pointed out that divorce under conditions of tradition, not law, were tantamount to adultery. Christ was thinking of women’s rights.

In a society in which women were dependent upon men for having their needs met, Jesus did not want women to experience injustice from men. In God’s economy, men are neither free to do whatever they want with women, nor with marriage. Their money needs to be used for wife and family, and not in cleverly contrived ways to get around the law.

We live for what we love. If someone loves money, it will not end well for them. If someone loves God and doing God’s will, then there is life and peace.

Let’s just make sure that we are truly doing God’s will, and not our own secret or unconscious intentions. Because no one can serve two masters.

Blessed God, help me to do Your revealed will fully, gladly, and immediately; and to love You with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Enable us all to love our neighbors as ourselves; and to seek the good of people from everywhere. Save us from being unhappy Christians. Deliver us from the sinful habit of complaint. May we rejoice in You, be constant in prayer, and give thanks in all circumstances; through Jesus Christ our Lord, in the strength of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

A Spiritual Wedding (Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9)

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

My thoughts are filled
with beautiful words
    for the king,
and I will use my voice
as a writer would use
    pen and ink.

No one is as handsome as you!
    Your words are always kind.
That is why God
    will always bless you…

You are God, and you will rule
    forever as king.
Your royal power
    brings about justice.
You love justice and hate evil.
    And so, your God chose you
and made you happier
    than any of your friends.
The sweet aroma of the spices
myrrh, aloes, and cassia
    covers your royal robes.
You enjoy the music of harps
in palaces decorated
    with ivory.
Daughters of kings are here,
and your bride stands
    at your right side,
wearing a wedding gown
    trimmed with pure gold. (Contemporary English Version)

A Royal Wedding?

Today’s psalm is a love song meant to be used for a wedding. Whether it was designed only for royal weddings, or for ordinary couples to be a king and queen for a day, the psalm’s overall challenge is for the groom to exercise a right use of power.

Back in biblical times, within a patriarchal society, men held the power and authority within every aspect of the culture, especially in the family.

If the psalm is meant for only royal weddings, it communicates that, in effect, the king has been placed on the throne by God, and acts as God’s extension of justice and righteousness to the people.

And if the psalm is intended for any leader, or anyone who possesses power and authority, then being in such a position requires great responsibility. Power is to be wielded for good, with an eye toward doing what is just and right for all of the people in which the leader exercises authority over.

So, whether one is in a hierarchical or an egalitarian structure, all persons in authority are to give themselves to being faithful.

Symbolism and Allegory

There is a symbolic and allegorical aspect to the psalm. Just as the royal robe or wedding clothes of the groom emit sweet aromatic spices, so the leader who loves justice and acts with integrity is pleasing to all those under their authority.

But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task? (2 Corinthians 2:14-16, NIV)

Those in responsible positions – and those sharing authority with one another – are to do what is life-giving for people; and not do things which are death-dealing. Promoting connection and being encouraging are vital. Causing division and being critical are destroyers of people’s welfare.

The psalmist praises a king who loves righteousness and hates wickedness. Such a ruler defends the cause of truth and upholds justice. These are ideals which have a pertinent message for public servants in every age.

Christ the Bridegroom, and the Church as Bride

For most of church history, Christian interpreters took a committed Christ-centered approach to the psalm. They saw Jesus as the beautiful king who reigns in justice and righteousness, faithfully ruling the people.

Through this view, every psalm, in some way, points to Jesus. In Psalm 45, the wedding poem directs believers to the coming wedding of Christ and the Church. The king is Jesus, who is worthy of praise and adoration. The bride is Christ’s Church.

Whether one discerns the psalm as literal or allegorical, the Christian understands that Jesus Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of all God’s promises. So, in that sense, everything in Holy Scripture – including the Old Testament and all of the Psalms – have to do with Christ.

All good earthly kings, rulers, and leaders hold an office which points forward to Christ, who rules over a kingdom to end all kingdoms. In looking at Psalm 45, the author of the New Testament Book of Hebrews takes such a view, since he looks back to this very psalm in speaking about Jesus:

But about the Son he [God] says,

“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
    a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
    therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
    by anointing you with the oil of joy.” (Hebrews 1:8-9, NIV)

The Reformer John Calvin (1509-1564) stated the reason we know the Psalm is about Jesus, because neither Jew nor Gentile talks this way about any human king – therefore, it is a reference to Messiah.

From St. Augustine to Martin Luther, scholars and interpreters saw in Psalm 45 a praise to Christ, who is the betrothed king.

The psalm’s celebration exalts the union of Christ and the Church. The song of love anticipates the great wedding feast at the end of the age, sung in honor of Jesus the bridegroom and the Church as the bride of Christ.

Weddings Are About Love

The psalmist unabashedly loves the king, and wants everyone to know it. Indeed, it is love which makes life worth living. It’s love that animates our words and actions. Apart from love, we are lost and lonely – languishing without an object of love to orient life around.

An affectionate love for Jesus Christ drives the Christian to live into goodness, justice, and righteousness. And we become what we love – which is why Christianity has the power to change the world for the better (and not in the weird sense of trying to conquer the world through politics and Christendom).

Such love elicits praise and adoration. Love brings about God’s good purposes. And God is determined to bring a spouse for his Son.

“God created the world to provide a spouse and a kingdom for His Son: and the setting up of the kingdom of Christ, and the spiritual marriage of the spouse to Him, is what the whole creation labors and travails in pain to bring to pass.” Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)

It is far too easy for one’s love to fade in the Christian life. Living an ethical life, and maintaining doctrinal purity, may be kept up; and yet, it all can be done without love behind it.

Jesus said to the Church at Ephesus:

I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. (Revelation 2:2-4, NIV)

Let’s allow today’s Psalm to evoke and stir up our love for God by reminding us of God’s great love for us in Christ, and the love we have, or once had, for Jesus.

Let us see what great lengths God went to love us through Christ. And let us retain and maintain the joyous passion of life with God in Christ, by means of the Spirit.

Amen.