Tag: salvation

Second Sunday of Advent – Prepare the Way (Luke 3:1-6)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
The Call from John the Baptist to Repent, by Renier de Huy, 12th century

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
    make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,
    and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
    and the rough ways made smooth,
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ” (New Revised Standard Bible)

In this Christian season of Advent, we are reminded that God is not only high above us, transcendent, far away; God is also close to us, immanent, and with us.

We remember at this time of year that God does not remain distant, but entered our time and space at a particular moment in history, for a distinct purpose.

The Roman Empire was powerful, large, and very much in control of every place where it existed. The litany of imperial rulers and authorities which the Gospel writer Luke listed is meant to give us a feel of the Roman weight, and how much Roman might was ensconced in Judea.

The world at the turn of the common era was under the dominion of powerful people with lots of influence. But God did not come to any of them. Instead, God came to a loner – a man who spent his time out in the wilderness. His name was John, the son of Zechariah. We know him as John the Baptist.

With God coming to John at a precise point of time in a particular place, that made John a prophet with a singular message. John was born for this. (Luke 1:76)

It is fitting that a man hanging out on the fringes of society all by himself would be the one to prepare the way for Messiah.

After all, Messiah’s message would be one of bringing good news to the poor, proclaiming release to prisoners, and freeing those who are oppressed. (Luke 4:18-19; Isaiah 61:1-2)

God’s prophetic calling for John was one of preparation. John was to prepare the way of the Lord. He was to get the people ready to receive Messiah.

John went about his ministry of preparation by calling folks to repent, to change their minds and amend their ways, so that there might be forgiveness.

In a reference from the prophet Isaiah, Luke alluded to Jewish exiles returning from their Babylonian captivity. The actual physical road from Babylon to Jerusalem was a hard journey due to the distance and topography.

The “road” or the “way” in Holy Scripture is also a metaphor for the spiritual journey we take in this life. And that road has a lot of challenges to it. The very act of walking as a pilgrim over a long arduous journey changes a person.

It is rarely the destination that makes a person; it’s the journey itself which leads one to a changed life of thinking differently, and seeing things from a perspective we’ve never seen before.

The smoothing out of the road is a way of saying God is making it easier for people to return to the Lord, to get them ready for a new life with promises fulfilled and unexpected joy.

In other words, valleys raised and mountains flattened represent God’s efforts at helping us experience a complete transformation of life. The Lord will do everything possible to make renewal and restoration happen for us.

The Lord will set things right. In our contemporary world that is now largely controlled by powerful oligarchs and the super-rich, God will turn it upside-down. All of the world’s current powerful people will find themselves looking up, not down.

It would be nice and reassuring if I could give you certainty about the journey ahead. But I cannot do that. Yet, what I can do is assure us of what is at the end of the road. Look beyond the current days of self-centered leadership and popular ignorance, and understand that all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

Prepare the way of the Lord. We do that by how we go about walking the road. Each step we take every day is important and makes a difference. And when we stumble, there is plenty of grace to help get us back on our feet and moving forward.

We are all collectively journeying together to Bethlehem. And as we daily move and walk, at the end of our journey, Jesus is there.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. (Galatians 4:4, NRSV)

And nothing can stop us or separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39, NRSV)

The journey may be arduous. You might feel like giving up. But Jesus is our Immanuel, God with us. In him, is our hope and our joy.

O Holy One of Israel, out of the embrace of mercy and righteousness, you have brought forth joy and dignity for your people. Remember now your ancient promise; make straight the paths that lead to you, and smooth the rough ways, so that in our day we might bring forth your compassion for all humanity. Amen.

Pray and Give Thanks (1 Timothy 2:1-7)

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

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and acceptable before God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For

there is one God;
    there is also one mediator between God and humankind,
Christ Jesus, himself human,
    who gave himself a ransom for all

—this was attested at the right time. For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth; I am not lying), a teacher of the gentiles in faith and truth. (New Revised Standard Version)

In our extreme busyness, do any of us stop long enough to consider what is of upmost importance in our lives? Or do we scurry about, not considering why we fill every minute of the day with constant motion and activities which – if we are honest – only frustrate us?

Whether we know anything about William Shakespeare’s tragic play, Hamlet, or not, many a person lives out his centuries old words:

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

Writing to Timothy, a new and young pastoral leader of the Ephesian Church, the Apostle Paul made it clear what is, above all, the activity which the church and all believers in Jesus are to engage in: prayer.

Perhaps that sounds too trite or simple. Yet, there is really nothing easy about prayer. To pray is more like heading out on a wrestling mat with the Incredible Hulk. This is going to take some serious work.

The most important activity we can do is to keep persevering in prayer, never giving up, but continually getting back out there on the wrestling mat of prayer and putting all of your energy into it.

Everyone in leadership must be prayed for. Yes, each person who leads needs our prayers, without exception.

Christians are to be, first and foremost, people of prayer. And those prayers are to be for all sorts of various situations, and for all sorts of persons.

We are to pray for specific needs; general circumstances and situations; urgent and emergent requests; and, as the capstone to all prayer, expressions of thanksgiving and gratitude are most needed.

A weak and ineffective prayer is one that gives no thanks to God, nor offers gratitude to God for anyone.

Conversely, however, prayer filled with power and effectiveness is stuffed with thanksgiving to God, and liberally offers thanks to God for everyone, including the ones we don’t much care about.

Specifically, whenever we fail to pray for, and give thanks for, the very people we don’t much like, and would rather not pray for, at all, then we ought not expect any of our prayers to be heard nor answered by the God who is concerned for every human being on the face of this planet.

For the Christian, prayer is never optional nor merely occasional; prayer is necessary and vital, all the time. And prayer is a close relative to thanksgiving.

Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.

Ephesians 6:18, NRSV

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6, NRSV)

In the ancient world of Paul and Timothy, much like our present contemporary world, prayers are needed so that we can live peaceably, with godliness and dignity.

We need religious tolerance and political stability, guaranteed by people in leadership positions. We need God’s sovereign and gracious enablement and direction of world leaders, so that God’s benevolent kingdom will come, and God’s ethical will be done, here on this earth, as it is always done in God’s heaven.

Christians recognize one God. The ancient Romans acknowledged many gods. In fact, veneration of the Roman Emperor as a god began after the assassination of Julius Ceasar in 27 B.C.E. He was proclaimed as divine, and added to the official pantheon of state gods in the Empire. Praying to divinized Ceasars became a real thing in the Roman world.

Paul clearly instructed Timothy to pray for Kings and Caesars, and not to them. Just like everyone else, rulers are dependent upon the mercy of God. Leaders are mortal, not divine; and ought never to be treated like gods.

So, when the Apostle stated that there is one God and one Mediator between God and humanity, he was clearly saying that Christ is King, and Ceasar is not. This was subversive language, at the time, and could get a Christian into some serious trouble.

For us today, it may seem silly to worship a ruler. Yet, we in our contemporary culture have a definite bent toward divinizing particular celebrities, politicians, sports icons, and music and movie stars. Some of what folks do certainly looks like worship of famous persons.

All of the celebrities of this world need God, and need our prayers for them (and not to them!) as people, like us, requiring deliverance from guilt and shame, just like we do.

I am a Calvinist, a person who holds to a Christian tradition from the Reformer John Calvin. I have encountered many people who believe that Calvinism is determinism, as if people are wholly bad, and cannot make choices because everything is already predetermined.

A Reformed Christian tradition simply places emphasis where (we believe) emphasis is due: upon God, and God’s sovereign decrees, commands, will, and decisions. Because ultimately, everything comes down to God, not us.

We worship God, not our choices, or anyone else’s. Before we ever chose God, God chose us.

Everyone needs deliverance, but not everyone receives it. The Reformed concept of “limited atonement” simply recognizes that not everyone will be redeemed. The atonement of Christ is unlimited in its scope for all people, but limited in its application to some persons.

The heart of God is that everyone would be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. Yet, not everyone experiences this.

This, in no way, flies in the face of a Christian theological tradition like Calvinism. A human judge may pronounce a severe sentence upon the accused; but that does not necessarily mean that the judge desires it, or enjoys putting someone away.

Jesus, the Son of God, and Son of Humanity, gave himself as a ransom for all. This assumes we all carry a significant debt that cannot simply be canceled; it must be reckoned with and redeemed.

Statue of Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Spiritual captives need freedom. Spiritual debtors need redemption. The spiritually oppressed need a champion, a warrior. Spiritual slaves need someone to pay for their release from bondage.

The death of Christ is the atoning act which provides new life for humanity. An existential exchange happened, in which Jesus vicariously took our place, and released us from the power of sin, death, and hell.

This is the good news which Christianity proclaims: In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven, and are now free to live a good, right, and just life. There is now nothing hindering our prayers. We have full access to God through Christ.

Thus, we are to use this incredible privilege of accessibility by praying to God on behalf of everyone; and giving thanks for all things, especially the deliverance which has been secured for us.

There are quite enough grumpy curmudgeons in this world. We don’t need any more of them. What we do need, and can never get enough of, are people who have heartfelt thanksgiving – and are grateful for both the good and the bad; those they don’t like, as well as the people they do like; those in an opposing political party, along with their own; their enemies, and their friends.

The good news of Jesus changes us to be people who exist in the world for good; and not for ill. And those who insist on hate speech and hateful actions, are evidencing that they are not people of prayer, and are ingrates who do not know God.

They shall find out the hard way that there is no unlimited atonement.

The Gospel is not a tale told by an idiot.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Christ, have mercy, and grant me your peace. Amen.

Be Ready (Mark 13:9-23)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Art by Mark Keathley

“As for yourselves, beware, for they will hand you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them. And the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations. 

“When they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you who speak but the Holy Spirit. 

“Sibling will betray sibling to death and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

“But when you see the desolating sacrilege set up where it ought not to be (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains; the one on the housetop must not go down or enter to take anything from the house; the one in the field must not turn back to get a coat. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that it may not be in winter. 

“For in those days there will be suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now and never will be. And if the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would be saved, but for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he has cut short those days. 

“And if anyone says to you at that time, ‘Look! Here is the Messiah!’ or ‘Look! There he is!’—do not believe it. False messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be alert; I have already told you everything. (New Revised Standard Version)

The genuineness and strength of one’s faith is demonstrated through the testing of it. A believer’s faith must and will be tried. How will that faith hold up when the world is angry and pours out its hate against them?

Jesus teaching in the Temple, by Willem van Herp (1614-1677)

The follower of Jesus will undergo afflictions and be oppressed by others. They will suffer.

Since that is true, the Christian must ensure that whatever suffering they endure is not because they have been obnoxious and unhelpful to people in this world; but that they are suffering because of their commitment to the words and ways of Jesus, because of their humility, gentleness, righteousness, purity, mercy, and peace.

Christians are meant to bear the cross, so that they may be conformed to the image of their Lord Jesus. There will be times when believers are the brunt of ungodly rage and fury, gossip and slander, opposition and injustice.

Jesus was warning his disciples that they needed to be prepared for endurance, to persevere over the long haul for their faith in him. Otherwise, they might be overwhelmed by temptation.

Christ followers are to remain steady in their purpose of living into the words of Jesus, and living out his ways in a world that prizes the opposite of Christian values.

The godly person values humility. The ungodly persons values pride.

The godly grieve and mourn over injustice in the world. The ungodly celebrate getting ahead by any means possible in this world.

The godly are meek. The ungodly are mean.

The godly seek right relationships with God and others. The ungodly leverage relationships to get what they want.

The godly prize mercy. The ungodly champion being merciless.

The godly are pure in heart. The ungodly have spiders in their heart, and garlic in their soul.

The godly engage in peacemaking. The ungodly engage in warmongering.

The godly end are persecuted for embracing the virtues of Jesus. The ungodly are the persecutors of good people.

The godly will be comforted, inherit the earth, receive mercy, see God, and belong to the kingdom of heaven. The ungodly will be judged, inherit the wind, receive condemnation, see nothing, and belong to the kingdom of darkness.

Sermon on the Mount, by Jorge Cocco Santángelo

The Lord wants us relieved of anxiety, and cheerfully living life with our burdens laid upon Jesus, for he gently and ably carries them. We can cast all our cares on him, because he cares for us. (Matthew 11:28-30; 1 Peter 5:7)

Whenever we are in the position of being afflicted by others, wisdom shall be granted to the godly who follow in the way of Christ.

The grace of God exists for those who seek to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly. But there is nothing for the proud and arrogant, who believe they themselves are sufficient – because they refuse to receive any gift of God being offered to them.

All sorts of false prophets come along to try and deceive the godly into listening and following them. They make empty promises and blame others for unwanted situations. Know that whatever they say about others, is actually true of themselves.

So, when they accuse another of lying, cheating, stealing, murdering, etc. you can be sure that this is precisely what they themselves do to get ahead and get what they want in this life. Therefore, don’t be tempted by any rhetoric which demeans others.

Love of God and humanity is to be kindled hot, and not cooled through ingratitude and treachery. For whenever courage is weakened, a flood of violent speech and behavior follows.

We must strive against anything which harms the whole of humanity, and puts God at a distance. Instead, good news needs to be proclaimed.

The end will eventually come. Yet, we need not wander around in darkness, as if we don’t know what to do or where to go. We will indeed go through testing and many trials to our faith.

The desolating sacrilege, the abomination of desolation, will appear – which will be the sign that the time is short. An abomination, or desolation, means to profane something, to make it unclean or impure, to treat a holy thing as if it were simply not significant nor important.

In other words, whenever and wherever corruption is rife, and people (and God) are treated as disposable, then you know destruction is at hand. Thus, you must flee, because there is danger.

In such a situation, the rule of law will not help you. Services which were once helpful will be abolished and thrown away like garbage. And it could all happen rather quickly. So, don’t run back and try to save pieces of that previous life and existence; it isn’t worth it. You life is on the line.

Malicious motives and meanness of heart have no intention for the common good of all persons on this earth. A few people want what they want, and they don’t care who gets hurt in the process.

None of this awful behavior will go on forever. God’s judgment can and will deal with it. Yet, no one knows the time or date when that judgment will be rendered. For the sake of the godly, those days will be shortened.

Jesus was not attempting scare his disciples, but to exhort and arouse them to beware of the ungodly; and to keep watch, so that they would not fall into temptation and have their faith weakened.

As believers, we may experience troubles, but we need not be troubled.

The Good Shepherd of the sheep, Jesus Christ, is watching over us so that we don’t need to become distressed and discouraged.

My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, in regard to what he has given me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand.  (John 10:27-29, NRSV)

The permanence of our deliverance from guilt, shame, sin, death, and hell does not depend on any of us. It is relies firmly upon the grace of God in Christ. And none who have been given to God shall perish. (John 17:12)

Be encouraged. But also be ready.

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake. Amen.

Telling a Story of Faith (Deuteronomy 26:5-10)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
A 13th century artwork depicting the Apostles writing the Creed

Then, standing there in front of the place of worship, you must pray:

My ancestor was homeless,
an Aramean who went to live
    in Egypt.
There were only a few
    in his family then,
but they became great
and powerful,
    a nation of many people.

The Egyptians were cruel
    and had no pity on us.
They mistreated our people
    and forced us into slavery.
We called out for help
to you, the Lord God
    of our ancestors.
You heard our cries;
you knew we were in trouble
    and abused.
Then you terrified the Egyptians
with your mighty miracles
    and rescued us from Egypt.
You brought us here
and gave us this land
    rich with milk and honey.
Now, Lord, I bring to you
the best of the crops
    that you have given me.

After you say these things, place the basket in front of the Lord’s altar and bow down to worship him. (Contemporary English Version)

Forty years of wandering throughout the desert, in the backside of the wilderness. Having been delivered out of Egypt by the mighty hand of God, the Israelites were on a very circuitous journey to the Promised Land.

The Book of Deuteronomy is a restatement of the people’s history and God’s law for the generation about to enter the land of Canaan. Moses told the people that when they enter the land and have their first harvest of crops, they are to remember and give thanks for all their blessings.

People need to be reminded of important things. Sometimes, in the middle of success and good fortune, we can forget to savor the moment, neglect to appreciate what it took to get to this place, and fail to celebrate with others the God who has made good things happen.

Interestingly, in appreciation for the abundance of a harvest, Moses did not tell the people to give thanks for the weather or the crops themselves. Rather, they were exhorted to recall and retell the story of Israel and their ancestors.

Through historical narrative, the Israelites tethered themselves to their present reality. They located themselves in the past, as contemporary links in a holy chain that stretched generations, all the way back to the patriarch Jacob.

This sort of relational and generational gratitude is in stark contrast to what current cultural appreciation and thanksgiving is, for cars, homes, jobs, resources, and stuff. Although thankfulness is appropriate and necessary for those things, none of it is lasting and sustainable.

Beneath all of the purchased things and electronic devices is a longing for connection, a desire to know who we are, where we came from, and what our true roots are.

Greater emotional health comes from knowing where we came from. Our connections to family, friends, church, and community are a vital and essential piece of living a good life with satisfaction and contentment.

Healthy roots enable us to respond well to the challenges of life with strength and resilience.

One way to recall and remember is to recite a creed. Sadly, many churches today recoil at reciting creeds and confessions, as if this were a bad thing. But there is significance and power to a group of people who stand and recite an ancient creed together.

The Christian ecumenical church creeds, including the Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed, and Athanasian Creed, capture the settled convictions of early believers in Jesus as they struggled to express their faith in the church and the world.

Those creeds are a part of us, and of our collective spiritual history as the people of God. There are yet other kinds of creeds, as well. We have an even more ancient creed expressed in today’s Old Testament lesson – the sort of creed that tells a story.

Moses gave the Israelites some parting instructions to follow for their future worship in the Promised Land. When they enter the land a bring in their harvest, they were to bring the first-fruits of their crops to the priest, and then profess a creed, which is really a story, a historical narrative of God’s people.

Every Jewish farmer and worshiper who brought their crop to the priest would recite the creed about their ancestors suffering in Egypt and being redeemed by God through a great deliverance. God granted them the gift of land, a promised place to call their own.

We as the people of God must discern the importance of embracing the story of redemption, of crying out and being delivered from the shackles of sin, death, and hell. We receive this salvation with thanksgiving and joy.

Christians tell their story of deliverance not only through the ancient ecumenical creeds, but also through the sacramental means of communion. The Table proclaims the life and death of Christ, given for us, and for our salvation. It is a story with deep roots in the life of Israel.

Believers in Jesus are invited to participate is something bigger than themselves. The Christian’s story begins not at Pentecost in the New Testament, but in the promise to Abraham way back in the Old Testament.

The blessing given to Abraham was a blessing for all nations, not just Israel (Genesis 12:1-3). Knowing the roots of our spiritual life and Christian faith helps inform us how we are to live out that faith and life in this present time.

Within Christianity, our history and story is much bigger than Europe and Western civilization. The earliest church began in the Middle East. Ancient Christian traditions and churches still exist, and worship today in places like Egypt and Ethiopia. There are presently large numbers of Christians in every part of the world, especially in Latin America, Asia, and Africa.

Essentially, we are the lost, the last, the forgotten, the outsiders who cried out to God. And the Lord rescued us, blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ, and gave us the privilege of being ambassadors for Christ in the world.

We belong to God. Along with believers throughout the ages, and across the world, we declare:

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.