Tag: redemption

The Parable of the Two Sons (Matthew 21:28-32)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Wheatfield with Crows, by Vincent van Gogh, 1890

“What do you think about this? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go to work in the vineyard today.’

“His son replied, ‘I don’t want to!’ But later he changed his mind and went.

“The father went to the other son and told him the same thing. He replied, ‘I will, sir,’ but he didn’t go.

“Which of the two sons did what the father wanted?”

“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “I can guarantee this truth: Tax collectors and prostitutes are going into God’s kingdom ahead of you. John came to you and showed you the way that God wants you to live, but you didn’t believe him. The tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. But even after you had seen that, you didn’t change your minds and believe him. (God’s Word Translation)

I once cheated on a college exam. It was a required class for which I was not much interested, so my grade was rather tenuous going into the final exam of the semester. When the professor stepped out of the classroom for a few minutes during the final, my fellow students began sharing answers. I gave in and went with the others.

I got an “A” on the exam and passed the class easily. However, I royally flunked God’s test. After a few days of misery, I went to the professor’s office and confessed what I had done. I was prepared to take a failing grade for both the exam and the class, yet I think the professor was so shocked that I would come and admit such a thing that he worked up my grade right there in front of me… I passed, but just barely.

I originally said “no” to what was right, but then said “yes” and made it right.  For those who practice repentance, there is a God of grace waiting for them. God has no tolerance for those who profess truth with a big “yes” on the outside but are passive-aggressive on the inside and say “no,” undermining the truth by how they live. 

The Sower, by Vincent Van Gogh, 1888

Today’s Gospel lesson highlights entrance into the kingdom of God – and the people entering might surprise us. Turns out, there are spiritual insiders on the outside of the kingdom, and spiritual outsiders as the ones who really inherit the kingdom.

Christ’s parable is a warning to all the spiritually serious: Beware, lest our insider energies be spent in correctness, conformity of belief, and cockiness rather than following Jesus. At the same time, the parable encourages outsiders with the wonderful possibilities of a changed life. 

Jesus was warning those who arrogantly assume they have the inside track by what they believe, and not by doing God’s will. It may be challenging for us to imagine how truly offensive Christ’s story was to the original hearers of the parable, so I restate it in a more contemporary form:

There was a man who was well respected in the community and had two sons. One son grew up and became a respectable member of the community, too. He was a successful businessman and gave lots of money to causes in his community, including new lights for the school football field – which was no small cost.  He only asked that appropriate and prominent recognition be given him with a plaque bearing his name on each of the light poles. 

The other son was not so successful.  He was the one in school who the teachers said, “Why can’t you be more like your brother?”  There was nothing spectacular about this son.  In fact, he lived an ‘alternate lifestyle’ and people murmured behind his back. 

One day the father said to this son: “Son, go and work at my place of business today; I am going away and need you to do some of the tedious paperwork I have gotten behind on.” “No way!” he answered, but later felt heartsick about the way he spoke to his father and decided to go and do all the grunt work his father needed done.

The father went to the well-respected son and said the same thing about needing him to do all the thankless paperwork that was piled up. That son answered, “Yes, sir, I will; anything you need I will do.” But that son did not go. Instead, he chose to go golfing with some people whom he was trying to coy favor with.

After telling the story, Jesus asked all the upstanding faith leaders and the people listening: “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered.

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, folks with different sexual orientations, unemployed persons on the low rung of society, and the religiously different with esoteric beliefs are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For you have had heard thousands of sermons about grace and the way of righteousness, yet you did not believe by putting God’s Word into practice; but the others did. And even after you saw how God can change a person’s life from the inside-out, you yourselves did not repent and believe.

For Jesus to tell such a story was so scandalous that, frankly, it got him killed. Specifically, the scandal is this: Merely believing rightly and living as an upstanding citizen is not the way of salvation. Tax collectors and prostitutes were some of the most despised people in Christ’s time. It was assumed they were outside of God.

However, the proof of genuine belief is not lip service but actively obeying God when no one is looking:

My friends, what good is it to say you have faith, when you don’t do anything to show that you really do have faith? Can that kind of faith save you? If you know someone who doesn’t have any clothes or food, you shouldn’t just say, “I hope all goes well for you. I hope you will be warm and have plenty to eat.” What good is it to say this, unless you do something to help? 

Faith that doesn’t lead us to do good deeds is all alone and dead! Suppose someone disagrees and says, “It is possible to have faith without doing kind deeds.” I would answer, “Prove that you have faith without doing kind deeds, and I will prove that I have faith by doing them.” You surely believe there is only one God. That’s fine. Even demons believe this, and it makes them shake with fear. (James 2:14-19, CEV)

The Christian life comes down to obedience, not cheap talk. Jesus wants to bless a lost world in need of God’s love and grace.

If we have ears to listen, we can hear numerous lost souls crying in the dark. If we have eyes to see, there are people caught in addictions standing in front of us. If we have hands willing to labor, needy folks surround us who can neither help themselves nor ask for it.

The Potato Eaters, by Vincent Van Gogh, 1885

Honestly, I am heartsick over the grinding loneliness of so many people; the boatloads of shame which thousands secretly carry; and the silent pain experienced by individuals everywhere. I feel this way because I genuinely believe my Lord feels the same. Jesus is looking to activate grace through his people to a world sinking in the depths of incredible human need.

Christ’s parable, however, is more than a warning; it is a story that opens the door of mercy for unlikely people seemingly far from God – people who ruined their lives by saying “no” to God. The parable is an invitation for all the screw-ups and those with little faith to come to Jesus.

There is a rather obscure Scripture reference, tucked away in the Old Testament. David was on the outside looking in. King Saul was on the inside trying to capture and kill him, even though David had done nothing wrong. Here is what happened:

David got away and escaped to the Cave of Adullam. When his brothers and others associated with his family heard where he was, they came down and joined him. Not only that, but all who were down on their luck came around—losers and vagrants and misfits of all sorts. David became their leader. There were about four hundred in all. (1 Samuel 22:1-2, MSG)

This rag-tag group of outsiders in Israel became Israel’s insiders as David eventually became king and these were the “mighty men,” the ones who helped bring Israel into prominence. 

Jesus Christ came into this world and identified himself as the Savior to the outsider when he quoted the prophet Isaiah:

Jesus went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
        to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
        to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16-21, NRSV)

In Christ, there are no lost causes and no persons too far on the outside to be redeemed. Therefore, now is the time to act on what we believe – to not only affirm right doctrine, but to live out that doctrine in obedience to God’s call.

May it be so, to the glory of God.

Advent Is Coming (Zechariah 13:1-9)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Coptic Church icon of Jesus the Good Shepherd

“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.

“On that day, I will banish the names of the idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more,” declares the Lord Almighty. “I will remove both the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land. And if anyone still prophesies, their father and mother, to whom they were born, will say to them, ‘You must die, because you have told lies in the Lord’s name.’ Then their own parents will stab the one who prophesies.

“On that day every prophet will be ashamed of their prophetic vision. They will not put on a prophet’s garment of hair in order to deceive. Each will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer; the land has been my livelihood since my youth.’ If someone asks, ‘What are these wounds on your body?’ they will answer, ‘The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.’

“Awake, sword, against my shepherd,
    against the man who is close to me!”
    declares the Lord Almighty.
“Strike the shepherd,
    and the sheep will be scattered,
    and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
In the whole land,” declares the Lord,
    “two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
    yet one-third will be left in it.
This third I will put into the fire;
    I will refine them like silver
    and test them like gold.
They will call on my name
    and I will answer them;
I will say, ‘They are my people,’
    and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’” (New International Version)

There’s likely a reason why so many Bible-readers have barely considered, or just never read, the minor prophets of the Old Testament: It’s difficult reading, on several levels.

Yet, the twelve books of the minor prophets, along with the four books of the major prophets, account for a lot of material within Holy Scripture. If we are to understand the whole of the Bible, as well as know God better, we need to contend with what the prophets have to say.

Impurity and cleansing, grace and judgment, idolatry and stabbing, prophets and visions, sheep and shepherds, faith and apostasy, are all part of what seems, on the surface, to be a confusing hodge-podge of verbiage from the prophet Zechariah. Yet, we can still observe the things God cares about.

The Lord promised to rid the land of idols (false gods), (false) prophets, and the spirit of impurity (false righteousness). If God takes out the false prophets, then the people can say good riddance to a false message of leading others toward idolatry and impurity.

The spirit and the message behind false prophets, unholy leaders, and unrighteous teachers, has to do with propagating lies and suppressing truth, so that they can deceive people and manipulate others for their own benefit – leading groups of people away from reality, and into commitments that go nowhere.

This insidious stuff is meant to be taken quite seriously – because it leads to a breakdown in community, a proliferation of injustice, and oppressive spiritual bondage. That’s why we have a rather dramatic picture of parents stabbing a child – not because God likes violence – but to demonstrate that false prophets and their message will damage and destroy a nation, if indulged.

Orthodox icon of Jesus the Good Shepherd

We must always keep in mind and remember that injustice and unrighteousness must always be nipped in the bud (Deuteronomy 13:6-11). Sin, that is, those things which deceive and make false promises that result in a downward spiral toward death, is to be confronted. In the New Testament, Jesus put the matter this way:

If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. (Matthew 5:29-30, NIV)

Christ was not advocating a physical maiming of oneself, but rather for us to separate ourself from sin by whatever means necessary. In other words, Jesus was saying that sin isn’t something to be managed, but instead something to eradicate altogether.

Truth matters. Truth brings reality and beauty to light. Falsehood is terrible. To promote that which is false, and perhaps even worse, tolerate it, gives hate and injustice a platform from which to crawl out of the darkness and make the world blind. It would take an awful lot to undo error’s presence.

This is why the shepherd, or maybe, from the Christian perspective, the Christ, is stricken. The Good Shepherd, the one who is truth incarnate, would have to suffer. The injustice and unrighteousness is so foul and degrading that only the pure can undo the impure. And it is all set in motion, not by the forces of darkness, but by God.

God strikes the shepherd, and the sheep scatter. He is not struck because he deserves it – far from it – but because he assumes responsibility for the wrongdoing of others. Father God is the parent who stabs a spear in the side of God the Son.

The ultimate good shepherd of the sheep will die as a heinous offender; and God is the executioner.

In Christ, God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.

2 Corinthians 5:21, MSG

This same great shepherd of the sheep, who became the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, is coming again. And he will bring the refining and purifying fire of divine judgment upon the earth.

In this upcoming Advent season, we remember not only that Jesus has come to save the world. We also are reminded that there is yet a second Advent, in which Jesus will come to judge the living and the dead.

Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:7-8, NKJV)

Blessed God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, preserve us from our own madness. Direct us away from dealing destruction to others; help us to steer clear of paths which lead to the ruin of ourselves and our world.

Protect us. Enable us to hear you. Beloved Jesus, show us your precious face in all others – you in us, and we in each other, from all places. Amen.

The Restorative Powers of Grace (Jeremiah 31:10-14)

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

Listen to the Lord’s word, you nations,
    and announce it to the distant islands:
The one who scattered Israel will gather them
    and keep them safe, as a shepherd his flock.
The Lord will rescue the people of Jacob
    and deliver them from the power of those stronger than they are.
They will come shouting for joy on the hills of Zion,
    jubilant over the Lord’s gifts:
        grain, wine, oil, flocks, and herds.
Their lives will be like a lush garden;
    they will grieve no more.
Then the young women will dance for joy;
    the young and old men will join in.
I will turn their mourning into laughter
    and their sadness into joy;
        I will comfort them.
I will lavish the priests with abundance
    and shower my people with my gifts,
        declares the Lord. (Common English Bible)

In the seasons of our lives, when we go through those times of difficulty, it feels like a hard slog uphill that never seems to end. But it will not always be this way. Suffering will eventually give way to rejoicing; sickness will turn to health; estranged relationships will reconcile; and broken spirits will be made whole again.

God is the expert in restoration. Dilapidated communities, broken individuals, and peoples in diaspora can find fresh hope amid challenging circumstances. The initiative, interventions, and actions of God are what make the difference in turning sorrow to joy.

The Lord gathers scattered people together, as well as making the disparate parts of people into a unified whole again. And in this gathering action of God, no one is left behind. Attention is given to the stragglers, to those unable on their own strength or ability to journey on the road back to the Lord.

With the Lord’s movements of mercy, those with unfortunate circumstances are turned into the fortunate ones. The underprivileged become privileged. Grief, lament, and mourning give way to joy and a new lease on life. A great reversal occurs with God’s intervention. Sorrow is transformed into praise. Goodness is found in abundance because the Lord is a good God.

God calls people to action, to a response of experiencing the restorative powers of grace. The Lord encourages such behavior because it helps us never forget that no one and no circumstance is ever beyond the renewing grace of God. The effect of God’s merciful activity in the lives of people is singing, shouting, listening, and proclaiming.

With spiritual renewal, there is no mumbling of words, no timidity about being off tune when lifting a song of praise and thanksgiving. The lonely person, fragmented group, depressed community, polarized neighborhood, or scattered nation who becomes restored by God’s merciful grace is a newly minted exuberant people. Singing organically arises from them.

God’s restorative work causes shouts of joy to emanate deep within the soul. In fact, the Lord’s activity is so wonderful that even the rocks will cry out if the people don’t. A last second win in the sports stadium amongst thousands of fans doesn’t even hold a candle to the celebrative shouts of believers gathered and restored.

Whenever a people hear God’s voice and respond, it results in restoration. The desire to listen is then heightened, and obedience to God’s will becomes the norm, instead of the exception. Increased proclamation of good news happens, as a joyous and privileged response to God’s amazing grace. More and more people are included within the community, and hope rises beyond what anyone thought was possible.

Rescue and redemption are at the heart of God toward lost and wayward humanity. Divine intervention leads to restoration of individuals, neighborhoods, faith communities, even nations. Like a faithful shepherd over a flock of sheep, the Lord actively seeks the lost, brings them home, and continues to stand watch over them as a compassionate guardian.

And just as God redeemed the people out of Egyptian slavery and took them to a good land of abundance, so the Lord shall return those persons exiled from that abundant place and restore them to the peace of settled rest. The restoring action of God gathers the scattered. The lost are found. That which is fragmented is made whole. Those previously disabled become able. The weak become strong, the sick healed, the hungry fed, and the prisoner freed.

In times of famine, disease, poverty, hardship, confusion, and scant resources, there is hope. The Lord knows how to restore fortunes and bring untold abundance amid the most difficult of situations.

True joy comes through hard suffering. The pains of childbirth give way to unspeakable joy.

Christians are about to enter the season of Advent, after the long months of ordinary time. God, in Jesus Christ, is about to enter the world through a woman, in the flesh. The gracious work is about to begin, of ransoming, redeeming, and restoring a sinful world that had exiled itself from peace and abundance. In Christ, our lives are about to become full of blessing.

Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for the spiritual blessings that Christ has brought us from heaven! (Ephesians 1:3, CEV)

“I am the gate. Those who come in by me will be saved; they will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life—life in all its fullness. I am the good shepherd, who is willing to die for the sheep.” (John 10:9-11, GNT)

May you know and experience the restorative grace of God in Christ today and every day. And may this upcoming season bring you fresh hope and a renewed faith. Amen.

The Redeemed and Responsive Soul (Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37)

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

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
    those he redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
    from the east and from the west,
    from the north and from the south.

Some wandered in desert wastes,
    finding no way to an inhabited town;
hungry and thirsty,
    their soul fainted within them.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress;
he led them by a straight way,
    until they reached an inhabited town…

He turns rivers into a desert,
    springs of water into thirsty ground,
a fruitful land into a salty waste,
    because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.
He turns a desert into pools of water,
    a parched land into springs of water.
And there he lets the hungry live,
    and they establish a town to live in;
they sow fields and plant vineyards
    and get a fruitful yield. (New Revised Standard Version)

The responsive spirit

A soul full of spiritual abundance responds freely and organically to God with offerings of gratitude for divine rescue and redemption.

The spiritually responsive person is at peace, content, and able to love with a sensitivity to God because they have had their needs for safety, satisfaction, and relational connection fulfilled. So, as a result, they are able to:

  • worship joyfully and praise God
  • speak words of thanksgiving
  • be attentive to self-care and personal well-being
  • use their resources wisely, feeling capable and confident of making good decisions that bless both the church and the world
  • know they are secure in the loving hands of God

The reactive spirit

Conversely, a soul that is empty from spiritual deprivation reacts predictably and robotically to others with frustration and fear.

The spiritually reactive person seems perpetually upset and in chronic emotional pain, feeling rattled and worried most of the time. They do not reflexively look to the Lord. Their needs for safety, satisfaction, and relational connection have not been met. So, as a result, they are:

  • hypervigilant, on the lookout for the bad, which they are convinced is coming
  • focused narrowly with tunnel vision, having lost sight of the big picture
  • prone to overgeneralizing their negative experiences as being the only experiences they ever have
  • searching for continual stimulation, just to seem alive and feel something
  • insecure, wanting constant validation from others because they cannot give themselves any encouragement

So, what do you do when always feeling between a rock and a hard place, experiencing racing thoughts, being anxious more than not, feeling like an abandoned town in the Old West with nothing but tumbleweed moving down the street?

A redeemed soul

In your desperation, call out to God. The Lord can:

  • get you out in the nick of time and deliver you soul from trouble so that you can be grateful for divine love
  • put your feet walking on a wonderful road of grace that leads to a good place of transformation
  • meet your needs for freedom, contentment, and loving relational networks, so that your spirit is full of right relationships, purity, mercy, and peace

You can once again, or maybe for the first time, feel like:

  • A flowing river, instead of sunbaked mud
  • A fruitful orchard, instead of dry dead tree
  • A farmer with much grain and many animals, instead of a homeless person sitting on a pile of dung
  • A person loved and valued by God, instead of a waste of space, breathing air that others could have
  • A sheep who knows the shepherd is watching over them, instead of an insect that everyone steps on

Keep in mind, that the experience of blessing, the encounter of abundance, and the feeling of peace, is not like a simple math equation – as if God were a divine genie that you happened to find and got three wishes.

Rather, the fulfilling spiritual life involves a persistent faith, confident hope, and constant love. These come from God, and are accessed through humility. The proud person will not realize a life of faith, hope, and love, because they believe they already know what is best.

The humble admit their ignorance, their failings, their shame, their guilt, and their desperation.

Approaching God with humility doesn’t mean to heap deprecation and curses on oneself. It just means to be honest with where you are spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically. And to cry out for help, knowing you have nothing to offer in return.

In God’s economy, the currency is grace – and not some give-and-take, I’ll-scratch-your-back-if-you-scratch-mine sort of mentality. God’s steadfast love endures forever. God’s kingdom spins on the axis of grace.

The Lord is not a reactive God but a responsive God. The Lord responded to Israel’s cry for deliverance not just with food and drink, but with a city. God did not only meet the immediate needs of the ancient Israelites, for whom the psalmist is one, along with the original recipients; the Lord took care of their larger, long term needs. 

The people needed a place where they could settle down, raise their own crops and tend their own livestock, and have a dependable means of making a living. God satisfied this, and more, by giving them a city where they could settle, be safe, secure, and content.

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams. God does it not by pushing us around, but by working within us, the Spirit deeply and gently providing us with our deepest and greatest needs.

Blessed heavenly Father, you have filled the world with divine beauty: Open our eyes to behold your gracious hand in everything you have done, so that, rejoicing in all your creation, we may learn to serve you with gladness; for the sake of him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit are one God, now and forever. Amen.