Tag: mercy

Looking for Mercy (Isaiah 63:15-19)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Divine Mercy, by James Janknegt, 2009

Lord, look down from heaven;
    look from your holy, glorious home, and see us.
Where is the passion and the might
    you used to show on our behalf?
    Where are your mercy and compassion now?
Surely you are still our Father!
    Even if Abraham and Jacob would disown us,
Lord, you would still be our Father.
    You are our Redeemer from ages past.
Lord, why have you allowed us to turn from your path?
    Why have you given us stubborn hearts so we no longer fear you?
Return and help us, for we are your servants,
    the tribes that are your special possession.
How briefly your holy people possessed your holy place,
    and now our enemies have destroyed it.
Sometimes it seems as though we never belonged to you,
    as though we had never been known as your people. (New Living Translation)

Desperation takes many forms – financial straits and grinding poverty; chronic physical challenges; the horrors of war; homelessness which never seems to end; and continual harassment. And that is only a short list of the destruction, death, and grief we have experienced and will encounter in our lives.

The penitent person who looks to God for help and strength through such times faces the possibility of divine disappointment. God’s timetable is not the same as ours, not even close. So, it is understandable that we can become upset with God. It can even appear as though God knows nothing about our situations.

Nevertheless, the penitent believer still prays, still hopes, still insists on faith, and even keeps up a steady stream of loving God by loving the people God created. But none of that means we never question God, never pour out our raw emotions and palpable hurt toward the Lord whom we have known.

The spiritual life has never been one of unending upward ascension toward the divine. Rather, the spiritual life is filled with continual ups and downs; three steps forward and two steps backward; and wondering if the spiritual journey of faith and patience is worth it.

I myself am in one of those ponderous times in which both my physical and mental health are in a place where I can see no way out. It’s as if God has taken his summer vacation somewhere on the other side of the universe, and left me to fend for myself.

Yet, I am one of those stubborn penitent believers who knows better. I have walked with God for nearly 50 years, and I’m not about to let go of faith, hope, and love, just because my life has several adversities and challenges. The truth be told, God owes me not a single thing, and yet, grace, mercy, and peace have been liberally and lovingly given time and time again.

But I admit, I long for those kind of glorious times once again. I’ve seen far too many genuine and unexplainable miracles in my past ministries to ever lose hope or ever believe God isn’t really there. I just don’t know why God is presently aloof, or if I’m too hard-headed to observe all the little graces He’s been tossing my way.

Yet, me, along with the ancient Israelites of old for whom Isaiah prophesied, who have experienced goodness from God, have our times of complaint, as well as penitence.

Today’s Old Testament lesson is filled with prayers and petitions, complaints and laments, confessions of sin, and confidence in the great Yahweh we have served for so long.

These heartfelt petitions are meant to move the passion of God to our deliverance and the meeting of our needs. Remembering the past commitments given by God is like the firewood of prayer we are trying to kindle and bring to full strength and heat.

In difficult circumstances, God seems much more transcendent than immanent. That is, God is understood as high as the heavens, and not so much as close as a friend. The Israelites pleaded with God to just give at least a glimpse toward them – to look down for just a moment so that divine mercy can quickly assess what’s going on.

The Lord is a gracious and compassionate God; it’s not in God’s nature to have no zeal for the ones who are devoted to that divine nature. God is reliable, right!? God will do what is right for us, if God sees what the heck is happening, right!?

The Israelites remind God of the past relationship which was an intimate connection of care and well-being. Father Abraham may have been the original Hebrew, but he isn’t around – Abraham is not God. Just as Abraham counted on God during his earthly life, so the Abrahamic community of Jews are depending on Yahweh for help.

The people knew something was awry, and they were not about to accept that. They want to understand what’s going on, and why they are in such a dire predicament. The Israelites even go so far as to blame God for leading them astray in some way. That’s the level of wondering and hurt they were under.

Charging God with neglect is a bad path forward for anyone. Just because things are bad does not necessarily mean that God is aloof, and that one’s enemies will take advantage of the supposed power vacuum.

It just gives us the sense of hopelessness, anxiety about the present, and worry about what will happen tomorrow. What they, and we, know about God is that without divine help, we are nothing, and going nowhere. So, that’s why we pray so fervently.

Yet, methinks we take ourselves far too seriously, as if the world would crumble without our divine connections. In reality, God doesn’t need us, yet chooses us for loving our neighbors in our world. It’s a privilege. Yet, one with a high cost. Love and mercy are a commission which will take everything from us and out of us to do.

As the people we are, there is a tendency to look for continual divine kudos and the accolades of others for our good work. But to be humbled and overlooked is a good thing, not a bad one. For we are being taught to disdain all the broken systems of this world. If we do that, we shall not continually be grieved, because God is our everything.

We are easy victims of vanity, and really have no reason to give God a list of complaints about how things have shaken out of our favor. Peace – real and sustaining peace – comes not from having everyone like us or get along with us. Peace actually comes from having others despise us, slight us, and have some contempt for us. This is when we become spiritually enlightened and learn to enjoy a full and rich connection with the God who once seemed remote.

As for me, I’ll take me and Jesus any day over any other relationship. For no other friend or foe can ever take away something that is living and permanent.

The grace of the Holy Spirit is always seeking the humble heart, and is always on the lookout for those seeking to liberate themselves from systemic and structural evil in order to do the greatest work of love. Wherever there is desperation, there is where God does His best work of mercy.

Grant to me, Lord, I pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, so that I, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; through Jesus Christ my Lord, who lives with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Severe Mercy of the Easy Yoke (Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
The Burden of Christ, a sculpture of Jesus Christ, in the Oratoire Saint-Joseph, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

“But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,

‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
    we wailed, and you did not mourn.’

“For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds….”

At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)

Exchanging one yoke for another is really a rather radical act. It is akin to dying to self, so that there can be new life in Christ.

In our anxiety-laden society, filled with multiple fears, worries, and frustrations, we are being invited by Jesus to lay it all down. In other words, every one of us must unequivocably die to self.

Perhaps this might best be illustrated by expressing my own struggle with the pharisaical yoke and the Jesus yoke:

A year-and-a-half ago, I abruptly had to leave my job as a hospital chaplain due to deteriorating health. I am now retired, not because I chose retirement, but because retirement chose me.

So, for the past eighteen months, I have struggled with this reality of no longer being a Chaplain. As hard as I thought and pondered, I’ve gained no understanding as to why I am no longer serving patients, their families, and hospital staff.

What’s more, I have no insight as to why – during my tenure as Chaplain – I experienced an awful time with a gaslighting boss for three of those years. This boss continually made nonsensical decisions, and defied any understanding, even though I sought it out. (I might add that it is super-creepy that the current U.S. President is so eerily like the former boss, as if I’m still under the abuse!).

If I was a good Chaplain doing good work (which I believe I was) then why was I treated so oppressively? Why did my employer turn a blind-eye to it all? Why would God almighty sideline me in such a loathsome health situation. Why must I keep experiencing the awful effects of incompetent political leadership? Why all of the nonsense? It is a terrible yoke for me to carry.

Likely, none of this has to do with me needing to understand any of it. It could be that it is more akin to Abraham being told to sacrifice the son of the promise, Isaac.

It was a completely nonsensical command from God. It defied any sort of understanding on Abraham’s part. And yet he quietly obeyed, with the text of Genesis 22 telling us nothing about any talk-back nor questioning from Abraham. Only obedience. It appears that Abraham was able to exchange yokes, from the oppressive one to the easy one.

In telling Abraham to sacrifice his son, the real death taking place was Abraham’s, not Isaac’s. Abraham was to die to anything that may compete or be likened to some sort of idolatry before God. For even the very good things, like families and jobs, can become idolatrous to us.

I don’t know about your situation, but maybe for me the point is that I must allow the old life to die, and to let a new life grow out of it. Maybe it’s time for a change of yokes. After all, one cannot have a new resurrected life without first experiencing a crucifying death to the old life.

Death is an integral part of life. To exchange yokes is to experience a death. I’ve wanted badly to return to chaplaincy in the hospital. But I am being commanded to sacrifice it on the altar of God. I am being told to die to myself, so that I may live a new life to God.

Any sort of mere earthly hope must die within us, that an unselfish and godly hope may arise anew. And that happens when we deliberately switch-out one yoke for another.

Chaplain Tim, in a way, is dead. I now accept that which is already true of me. It is a death to self. And I am now patiently awaiting my resurrection.

I do not understand this weird liminal space I’m inhabiting; and I need not understand it. I’m deprived of the object of my former job. And so, I let go of it. I will cling no longer to the old life.

What I seem to be currently experiencing is a severe mercy – the mercy from God to not make Christianity wholly understandable, nor boil it down to pharisaical laws of which I can clearly either follow, or not.

Instead, I allow following Christ and taking up his easy yoke to maintain it’s true mystery and grace. If I have died with Christ, I shall also live with him.

Only in hopelessness can we entertain hope. God loves me enough to let me feel the awful severity of Divine nonsense, so that I may experience the real nature of Christ.

I suppose, then, that I am really dead to having to understand everything, and am instead alive to hope. And hope will not disappoint me.

Through dreams and visions, O God, you broaden the horizon and hope of your people, so that they may discover the meaning of your covenant, even in the midst of trial and exile. Increase the number of those who believe in your word so that all people may joyfully respond to your call and share in your promises. Amen.

Already Justified and Accepted (Romans 5:1-8)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Crucifixion, by Natalya Rusetska

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)

Perhaps we have so many people filled with shame and regret today over their past poor decisions and the trajectory their lives, because there is such a profound lack of hope in the world.

Becoming confident in both the unseen realities and the stated promises of God can melt away both personal and corporate shame.

Long ago, the Apostle Paul reminded the Roman Church of their true standing before the God of all. Paul knew that if the people were secure in their identity, then resilience would arise; and if resilience rises, then a robust Christian character and identity will take root. Hope then becomes a central part of life.

Notice that the Apostle made it clear what is true of believers: They are justified, possessing the justification of God. In other words, the Christians have no reason to try and justify themselves to others (or to God) because they already have been justified by God.

There is great freedom in feeling no compunction whatsoever to prove oneself. Followers of Jesus Christ need not prove themselves, spending all sorts of social capital attempting to please others, out of some perceived need to demonstrate who they are.

If you want others to know who you are and what kind of God you serve, then know thyself, instead of constantly putting your finger to the wind in order to gauge which way the prevailing winds of society are blowing so that you can follow it.

In truth, all you need is the wind of the Spirit to carry you on into doing God’s will from a merciful, pure, and peaceful heart.

Since we are already justified, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Things are good between us and God. Not only do we have no need to prove ourselves to the world, but we especially have also absolutely no reason to try and prove ourselves to God.

The Lord already knows the score of everyone’s life. It is a silly venture to put on airs before the Sovereign of the universe, as if God must be convinced to love us and have our backs.

The grace of God is abundant and ever-present; grace is continually available. And there are no exceptions to this. One is never too far from God or too estranged from the good in order to receive the mercy of God.

God’s love has been already poured into our hearts. God is with us; divine love is intimately close to us. Rather than wondering or vacillating between whether God loves me or God loves me not, the objective spiritual reality of the moment is that you and I are surrounded by the God who rejoices over us.

The Lord your God is with you.
He is a hero who saves you.
He happily rejoices over you,
renews you with his love,
and celebrates over you with shouts of joy. (Zechariah 3:17, GW)

What’s more, God does not wait for anyone to get their lives straightened out before paying gracious attention to them. No, while we were still stuck in the darkness of our bad and misguided ways, Christ died for us. Jesus Christ died for the ungodly while they were still going on in their own selfish and oppressive way.

That, my friend, is the extent to which God’s love reaches. There is no pit too deep, no meanness too great, nor any unrighteous life too bad that God cannot reach the long divine arm of mercy and love into the muck, and snatch us out of a depressing existence.

And the world is not too filthy rotten that God is unable to cut through the filth. As far as the Lord is concerned, the earth is presently just a compost pile that will eventually become transformed from garbage to fertilizer for new life, in which love can grow, thrive, and flourish across this world.

Unhindered access to God has been granted to us.

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16, NIV)

We now have the hope and the freedom to be active spiritual farmers who carefully and pastorally care for all creation by spreading the seeds of God’s love to the world.

Everything we have and all that we are, comes from the grace, mercy, and love of God. Therefore, we have no reason to boast in and of ourselves, but to boast extravagantly in what Christ has done for us. He has bought and brought  deliverance from all which hindered us from living a loving and hopeful life.

So then, the path to true self-acceptance comes from knowing that we are already accepted by God.

The very core of our identity is in the Creator, Savior, and Sustainer. Since we possess God’s love and acceptance, there is never a need for subjective feelings of trying to gin-up a sense of self-acceptance. You and I already have it. You are profoundly loved.

This, then, is the basis for peace and rest. Please understand that it is quite possible that later today or tomorrow or next week you will again feel unworthy of God’s love, unaccepted by God and others, and nervous to the point of peace becoming a bygone wish.

None of this, however, erases what is already real and true of you, or changes your identity in any way. You are still in the hollow of God’s hand; still the apple of God’s eye; and still in a place where there is no need to justify yourself. What there is, however, is abundant grace.

No matter how we are doing, feeling, or believing, there is always open access to God because of Jesus Christ.

The ground of our confidence allows us to view tribulations as opportunities for spiritual growth; and patient waiting as the privilege to hope in what is yet to come. I will yet see the glory of God face to face.

God in Christ has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. The Lord has granted us faith, and gifted us with a fresh new allegiance. Through recognition of our helpless state, and our distance from God (including a nasty tendency to ignore God) we discover that the love of God is with us. So, we may rely completely on the divine initiative of the love which never wavers.

In this state, guilt, shame, and regret is left in the dust – replaced by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

Loving God, open our ears to hear your Word, and draw us closer to You, so that the whole world may be one with you as you are one with us in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Waiting Patiently For God (Psalm 40:1-11)

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

I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the desolate pit,
    out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
    making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
    a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
    and put their trust in the Lord.

Happy are those who make
    the Lord their trust,
who do not turn to the proud,
    to those who go astray after false gods.
You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
    your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
    none can compare with you.
Were I to proclaim and tell of them,
    they would be more than can be counted.

Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,
    but you have given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin offering
    you have not required.
Then I said, “Here I am;
    in the scroll of the book it is written of me.
I delight to do your will, O my God;
    your law is within my heart.”

I have told the glad news of deliverance
    in the great congregation;
see, I have not restrained my lips,
    as you know, O Lord.
I have not hidden your saving help within my heart;
    I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
    from the great congregation.

Do not, O Lord, withhold
    your mercy from me;
let your steadfast love and your faithfulness
    keep me safe forever. (New Revised Standard Version)

Some of the greatest gifts any of us could ever receive are God’s steadfast love, faithfulness, and mercy. These are no problem for the Lord to bestow, because they are all a part of God’s very character.

Since, according to Holy Scripture, people are created in the image and likeness of God, every single one of us contains a divine reflection of faith, love, and mercy inside our very souls.

So, why aren’t these gifts and character virtues more evident in humanity?

Why does it seem to so many that love, faith, and mercy are in short supply today?

I believe today’s psalm gives us a clue to the answer. Virtuous character only really arises out of us through the practices of patience and gratitude. Another way of looking at this is: Our waiting and our thanksgiving help us become aware and in-touch with love, faith, and mercy.

Waiting Patiently

The Psalter is replete with encouragements to wait. The ability to be patient is connected to our character’s integrity.

May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
    for I wait for you. (Psalm 25:21, NRSV)

Our patience is an expression of our trust and reliance upon God.

Wait for the Lord;
    be strong, and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord! (Psalm 27:14, NRSV)

Throughout the psalms, faithful and patient waiting leads to God’s deliverance.

Wait for the Lord and keep to his way,
    and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
    you will look on the destruction of the wicked. (Psalm 37:34, NRSV)

We can wait because we have the hope that God is good for promises given.

And now, O Lord, what do I wait for?
    My hope is in you. (Psalm 39:7, NRSV)

It would be great if love and mercy were always right there, embedded clearly within every human community, family, group of people, and nation. But, as you well know, virtuous character is not always there for us.

This is why there are times in life in which we must wait for others’ love and faithfulness. We can do that through active patience, that is, by purposely loving others and being committed to them despite their unloving and uncommitted behaviors.

I’m not saying this is easy. In fact, it is downright hard. Yet, our persevering patience, expressed in mercy, will eventually win the day. What’s more, the Lord Jesus made it plain that we are to love others whether they are nice to us, or mean to us. (Matthew 5:43-48)

Giving Praise and Thanks

When God gives us deliverance from whatever or whomever is oppressing us, a new song arises in our hearts. The song declares and testifies to God’s goodness toward us. A song provides witness to our experience of God’s steadfast love, faithfulness, and divine mercy. Through singing, we show others the path toward deliverance.

O sing to the Lord a new song;
    sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord; bless his name;
    tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous works among all the peoples. (Psalm 96:1-3, NRSV)

I admit that there are many times I don’t feel like singing. Yet, even using my voice to sing a lament is a way of expressing thanks to God for being present with me in my grief, and for what God will do in my life.

For he will hide me in his shelter
    in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
    he will set me high on a rock.

Now my head is lifted up
    above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
    sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
    be gracious to me and answer me! (Psalm 27:5-7, NRSV)

Monetary sacrificial giving and offering is needed, yet this is not so much what God truly desires from us. God delights in our delight to do God’s will. So then, our sacrifice can look more like the exhortation of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2, NIV)

Petitioning God For Mercy

In today’s psalm, the psalmist makes a shift from offering thanks to asking God for mercy. Mercy in the form of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness is what the psalmist needed. And it is likely what you and I need, as well.

Any sort of deliverance we experience in this mortal life seems to have a temporary element to it. There is really no final deliverance until Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead. In the meantime, we need a lot of mercy.

I don’t know if you have ever had that feeling of deliverance from a slimy pit, and having your feet set on firm solid ground. Thankfully, I have.

My own deliverance(s) were never experienced because of any superior character on my part. No, deliverance is realized through asking. And asking requires some humility which admits need, and knows how much we cannot simply save ourselves from trouble.

But we must brace ourselves for the reality that we might do a lot asking over a seemingly long period of time. It’s one thing to ask; it’s another to keep asking day in and day out, week after week, month after month, even year after year, or decade after decade.

Yet this is the nature of patient waiting. There is no deliverance apart from perseverance in prayer. I’m not talking about a vain repetition of trying to get God’s attention – that’s because you and I already have it. I’m talking about the reality that we ourselves are not in control of anything except ourselves. And even our own self-control doesn’t often go so well.

A song of thanksgiving to God always understands that there will be ongoing trouble in this old world; and a continual need for deliverance.

I humbly ask that you join me in getting on your knees every day and asking for deliverance from the injustice and unrighteousness of our current world and national troubles. They are legion.

It isn’t easy watching friends live in fear, and neighbors becoming victims of oppression and abuse. But here we are, all of us in need of seeing God’s kingdom come to earth and God’s will be done on this planet, as it is always done in God’s heaven.

Soli Deo Gloria

May it be so, to the glory of God.