Tag: salvation

God Is Bigger (Psalm 46)

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

God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
    though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
    God will help it when the morning dawns.
The nations are in an uproar; the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice; the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Come, behold the works of the Lord;
    see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields with fire.
“Be still, and know that I am God!
    I am exalted among the nations;
    I am exalted in the earth.”
The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our refuge. (New Revised Standard Version)

Fear is one of those things that we don’t get over simply by telling ourselves to not be afraid. In fact, that approach typically makes us even more fearful – namely, because we focus on the fear itself. But to cope and deal with fear, it requires a focus on something bigger than the fear.

God is bigger than the boogie man.
He’s bigger than Godzilla,
or the monsters on TV.
Oh, God is bigger than the boogie man.
And He’s watching out for you and me.

So, when I’m lying in my bed,
and the furniture starts creeping,
I’ll just laugh and say,
“Hey, cut that out!”
And get back to my sleeping.
‘Cause I know that God’s the biggest,
and He’s watching all the while.
So, when I get scared I’ll think of Him,
and close my eyes and smile.

God is bigger than the boogie man.
He’s bigger than Godzilla,
or the monsters on TV.
Oh, God is bigger than the boogie man.
And He’s watching out for you and me. – VeggieTales

Psalms and songs of trust in God help us focus on divine hugeness instead of human puniness.

Changing Circumstances

Even though people may find themselves in the dire straits of natural disasters, they can have confidence smack in the middle of all the crazy chaos. Whereas those who focus on their fear become ever more anxious and feel as if the world is out of control, the believer isn’t threatened when overwhelming circumstances occur.

We will not fear, because God – who created the world and its vast natural systems – stands above it all and is therefore able to establish order out of chaos. Just as we are certain that the sun will again rise in the morning, so too, we have full confidence that God shall rise over the darkness and bring light and warmth to all that is shadowy and cold.

Shaky Politics

The nations and their governments who rule with injustice and care nothing for religion, breathe-out their threats and posture themselves as supreme leaders. They, too, are chaotic forces. But God is far above them, as well as above the flood and the famine. The leader’s bellicose blustering sounds merely like a chattering chipmunk to God.

And like natural disasters, the uproar of the nations does damage; but national leaders cannot topple God. Instead, God will shake up the unjust nations, like a protein shake in a blender. When delusional leaders encounter the voice of God, they cower in fear – but God’s people don’t. The spiritual person’s foundation will not be shaken, whereas the would-be dictator will find himself without anyone to lead.

A Working God

God is always working, albeit most of the time behind the scenes. God’s dominion extends over everything and everyone. God can obliterate any and all threats because God is everywhere present.

Based on this view of God, all we as people need do is be still and know that the Lord is God. Like Jesus rebuking the waves and the sea, resulting in immediate stillness, so God’s word brings us stillness, calmness, and freedom from fear and anxiety.

God is with us. God is in control. God cares for us. There are a lot of things we don’t know – such as why we have to personally endure the natural disasters and the unnatural dictators – but we can know without a shadow of a doubt that the presence of God surrounds us, and the love of God squeezes us.

With a transcendent Being who commands the angelic hosts of heaven, our source of security comes not from within but from without. The Lord is a trustworthy God who is vigilant in watching over us.

Trusting the Lord

Armies, security systems, and protective coverings all have their needed purpose in human life. Yet, when we look to our ultimate protection – the kind that provides security of both body and soul – it is God’s presence that sustains our highest and greatest needs.

Perhaps you understand the psalm’s message, yet still find it difficult or untenable to place faith in such an ancient writing and an even older God. Maybe you much prefer to trust in something that isn’t so ethereal, something you can engage with your five senses.

It could be that you prefer a strong political leader, more and bigger weapons, higher and thicker walls of protection. You work hard to have as much money as possible to keep you safe from harm. You seek to gain as much influence in the form of earthly power and authority as you can.

The problem is, however, that none of this earthly posturing is going to protect you from what you fear the most. All that work is going to prove unreliable in the end.

God is the only sure defense. Ultimate power belongs to the Lord God almighty, creator of heaven and earth. Deliverance of body and soul does not ultimately come through the strength of the military, the economy, or any human ingenuity or hard work; for the Christian, it comes through the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Any inclination to place saving trust in personal resources, human institutions, or world might, will result in sure failure. They cannot remedy our fear, for nothing is able to match the power of God. Indeed, God is bigger than anyone and anything. We need the mighty fortress which is our God.

A mighty Fortress is our God
A Bulwark never failing
Our Helper He amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing

For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe
His craft and power are great
And armed with cruel and hate
On earth is not his equal

Did we in our own strength confide
Our striving would be losing
We’re not the right Man on our side
The Man of God’s own choosing
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He
Lord Sabaoth His Name
From age to age, the same
And He must win the battle

That word above all earthly powers
No, thanks to them, abideth
The Spirit and the gifts are ours
Through Him who with us sideth
Let goods and kindred go
This mortal life also
The body they may kill
God’s truth abideth still
His Kingdom is forever

Amen

The Lamb of God (John 1:29-34)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Stained glass of the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God), Chamonix, France

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” (New International Version)

The Gospel of John is all about finding and seeing Jesus – and then believing. Jesus is seen from various angles, namely because, as the embodiment of God, he requires a multi-perspectival look. In today’s lesson, we see John the Baptist exhorting everyone to take a look at Jesus as the Lamb of God.

Throughout the Apostle John’s Gospel, we see the gradual unfolding of belief amongst people, including the faith of John the Baptist. The Baptist’s initial understanding was that he was in the presence of someone of much greater worth than himself. Only by means of God’s Spirit is John able to gain increased insight concerning Jesus.

It’s important to point out that faith is never a static sort of thing. Rather, faith is always moving in a direction; it’s dynamic. Faith is more than a gift that’s put in a box and given and received. There is continual discovery to faith. It’s as if we’ve been given the gift of a Russian doll, and there are ever-increasing gifts within the gift. There are multiple levels of belief to explore and discover.

Spiritual insight is an initial gift of faith. There is, however, more. With insight there follows the ability to distinguish between material and immaterial realities. This is one reason why the Gospel of John can be difficult to understand – because within one verse, statement, or story, there are double, even triple, meanings to it.

John often invites us to see the spiritual reality that is there underneath the physical. It will take eyes of faith to see, because sheer physical sight will not see the entire reality. And at the end of faith is Jesus, to confess and believe that he is indeed the very Son of God.

The Holy Spirit in today’s lesson actually serves as the divine witness to John the Baptist’s burgeoning development of faith in Christ; John sees Jesus not only as coming from God, but as God.

The confirming voice of the Spirit at the baptism of Jesus lets everyone know that this Lamb of God, Jesus, the Son of God, will take away the sin of the world in his eventual Passover death.

Stained glass of the Agnus Dei, El Cajon, California

To take away sin means to remove it and purify the person from it. John’s increased understanding discerns that his words and his baptism with water don’t bring this removal and purification; but they do point to Jesus. Christ as the one who is able to immerse people in the cleansing bath of grace.

Jesus Christ is qualified and able to call, gather, and cleanse not only Israel, but also the world and all the scattered children of God. Thus, John the Baptist’s ministry is to reveal Jesus to Israel; it’s directed to the entire world and to the taking away of the world’s great sin, once and for all.

The reference to Jesus as the “Lamb of God” is a familiar one to Christians. Lambs are common throughout the Bible. A lamb, however, that takes away sin is somewhat novel (although a scapegoat symbolically takes aways Israel’s sin into the desert, Leviticus 16:8-10). Passover lambs, lambs offered twice daily and in several offerings and acts of worship, were a part of many guilt and purification rituals in the Old Testament. (Leviticus 9:1-13; 14:1-13)

It seems to me that the Apostle John understood Jesus as the Lamb which removes sin by being the representative and once for all sacrifice to end all sacrifices. There is no longer any need to keep offering these various lambs day after day, festival after festival, year after year; Jesus is the efficacious one who ends it all and finally purifies and atones with potent deliverance from sin.

Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest [Jesus] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (Hebrews 10:11-14, NIV)

And what is more, it’s this same Lamb of God who will again show up – even though slain, and yet lives – to gather together all the nations of the earth, lead them as the singular Good Shepherd, vanquish all the enemies who oppose goodness, and establish divine light in a sort of eternally lit menorah that blesses the world. (Revelation 5:6-12; 6:1; 7:17; 14:1: 1714; 21:22-23)

The baptism with water of Jesus by John the Baptist, therefore, confirmed and anticipated the baptizing (purifying) work of the Holy Spirit that only Jesus would accomplish. For John baptized with water, but Jesus baptizes with both water and Spirit – demonstrating his singular ability as Savior and Lord.

In this Christian season of Epiphany, Jesus – the Lamb of God who takes away sin and purifies with the Spirit – is Christianity’s eternal light and life.

The bright star still compels people to come and see, as well as leads the little Christs called “Christians” to take their light and let it shine wherever they go. It is a light of mercy and mystery, grace and goodness, wonder and wisdom. It is, I believe wholeheartedly, the light the world needs in order to bring an end to division and connect one another in peace and goodwill.

May it be so, to the glory of God. Amen.

Who Is Jesus? (Luke 2:22-40)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
The Presentation in the Temple, 14th century fresco in Pomposa Abbey, Codorigo, Italy

When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
    you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
    which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and the glory of your people Israel.”

The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him. (New International Version)

The Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John actually contain very little information about the childhood of Jesus. That’s because the Gospels are not biographies – in the sense we think of them – but rather they are narratives that seek to answer a fundamental question about faith and life on this earth: Who is this Jesus?

C.S. Lewis went about exploring that very question. He reasons with us in his classis work, Mere Christianity:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

St. Luke’s account of Christ’s childhood stories, seeks to make some important theological points about Jesus:

  • born a Jew amongst devout religious Jews in a thoroughly Jewish society, under Roman authority (Luke 2:1-7)
  • born of a woman, born under the law (Galatians 4:4-5)
  • obedient to his heavenly Father (Luke 2:49; Mark 3:35)
The Presentation in the Temple, 14th century marble statue in the National Museum of the Middle Ages, Paris, France

So, as such, the presentation of Jesus in Jerusalem at the temple is motivated by specific requirements of the law of Moses:

The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days…. On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised. Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over….

“‘When the days of her purification for a son… are over, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering….

“‘These are the regulations for the woman who gives birth to a boy… But if she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’” (Leviticus 12:1-8, NIV)

What’s more, every first-born male (as Jesus was) specifically belongs to the Lord, and is set apart.

The Lord said to Moses, “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me… you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb….”

“In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt.

This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’ And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.” (Exodus 13:1-2, 12, 14-16, NIV)

Luke was making the connection that when Joseph and Mary presented Jesus to the Lord in Jerusalem, they were essentially dedicating his life to God. Jesus will be the means of redemption for all the people.

Mary would have remembered the words the angel Gabriel told her, that her son will not only be holy, but also be called the Son of God. The life of Jesus – conception, birth, and presentation at the temple – is demonstrably dedicated fully and completely to his heavenly Father. Deliverance for both Jews and Gentiles is focused in the person of Jesus.

Simeon and the Child Jesus, 16th century statue in Zadar, Croatia

Simeon and Anna show up at the presentation of Jesus as devout Jews who are awaiting the fulfillment of God’s promises of consolation and redemption for Israel.

“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
    I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people
    and a light for the Gentiles.” (Isaiah 42:6, NIV)

Break forth; shout together for joy,
    you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted his people;
    he has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord has bared his holy arm
    before the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see
    the salvation of our God. (Isaiah 52:9-10, NRSV)

Simeon and Anna became the spokespersons for the redemption that is to come through Jesus. They both got a glimpse of the salvation that would, one day, reveal itself to the whole world. Forgiveness of sins, deliverance from death and hell, and freedom from guilt and shame all become laser focused on the suffering servant of God.

Who is Jesus? He is the ultimate meaning of Christmas, the incarnation of the Son of God, the Savior of the world. Amen.

Celebration and Lament (Matthew 2:13-18)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Coptic Church depiction of the holy family in Egypt

Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the magi.Then what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

“A voice was heard in Ramah,
    wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
    she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.” (New Revised Standard Version)

Smack in the middle of the great celebration of Christ’s birth is a great lament. That’s because not everyone views the birth of Jesus with joy; there are others who see it as a threat and want to stamp it out.

We are humans, with two ears, two eyes, two hands, two feet, two lungs, and two kidneys. Our paired organs exist because we need the two of them in order to function properly. Joy and sadness, celebration and lament, are emotionally paired so that our soul may serve us as it is intended to. We hold them both together – at the same time, all the time – in order to have a well-rounded and healthy way of life.

In this time of year, it can be easy to gravitate towards either one or the other. We might become engrossed in all the shiny things of the season; or we may get lost by all the sorrows which the season stirs up for us.

I invite you to approach the mundane and simple manger. Although it might seem dull and unattractive – the last place you may find wholeness and peace – it is truly the place where we find God. It is here that both our joys and our sorrows meet, because among the stinky animals and the lower class life we shall actually discover the real longing of our hearts.

The gracious and almighty God preserved and protected the child Jesus. Christ’s early life retraced the life of ancient Israel. Like the Jewish patriarchs, Jesus went down to Egypt (and would eventually go down and face hell for us in his crucifixion); and, like the ancient Israelites, Jesus was brought up out of Egypt (and would rise from the dead bringing freedom from sin and death once for all) in a New Exodus.

It is as if the disciple Matthew means to connect the two Testaments as a unified whole by saying, “Look, here is the Messiah, the coming King, the promised One of Israel and of all the nations. Jesus is our salvation, the fulfillment of all that we have hoped for.”

Jesus is the New Exodus

In the second of three dreams, Joseph is told to take Jesus to Egypt. Joseph obeyed the Lord and took responsibility for the role of protecting Jesus, as contrasted with Herod’s role in attempting to murder Jesus.

Yet, there is more to this story than Christ’s protection; this is the fulfillment of a biblical pattern, an identification of Jesus with the people of God. Matthew pulled forward the prophet Hosea to say that just as God brought the Israelites out of Egypt through a great deliverance, God brought up Jesus, the Great Deliverer, out of Egypt as the unique Son of God.

Ethiopian Orthodox icon of the holy family fleeing to Egypt

When we hold the pair of Testaments together in both hands, we feel the weight of Jesus as God’s divine Son; so therefore, Christ is the rightful Ruler in God’s kingdom.

Just as God preserved Israel from Pharaoh’s wrath, the Lord protected Jesus from Herod’s wrath. God’s kindness and loyalty extends to us as covenant people and preserves us from the wrath of the devil who seeks to keep as many people as possible in the realm of darkness.

Our hope is in the Lord Jesus, who conquered the devil by establishing a beachhead on this earth through an incarnation as the Son of God.

Jesus Brought Us Out of Exile

The scoundrel King Herod massacred innocent toddlers to ensure the destruction of Jesus. Behind his atrocity was the devil himself, who knew Jesus was the coming king who would one day bring salvation. Reflecting on a vision of Christ’s birth, the Apostle John identified the sinister plan and the divine deliverance:

The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that when she gave birth, he might devour her child. She gave birth to a son, a male child who is to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was snatched up to God and his throne. (Revelation 12:4-5, CEB)

Satan wars against God’s Son and God’s people, whose roots go all the way back to the first prophecy of Christ after the Fall of humanity. God declared to Satan:

“And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
    and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15, NLT)

There has been continual enmity ever since, between the serpent and the seed of the woman. It manifests itself with the Israelites constantly being threatened with extermination and tempted to conform to pagan ways.

King Herod was just another in a long line of demonically animated persons trying to perpetuate the kingdom of darkness. We must take this threat seriously because the devil knows that his time is short. A second Advent is coming which will be the final judgment.

Satan’s most powerful weapon, death, has lost its sting because of Jesus. Christmas is a hard time of year for many people, filled with depression instead of joy, grieving over lost loved ones for whom we will not spend another Christmas with.

Yet there is a reunion coming, the hope of a bodily resurrection in which we will be with Jesus and God’s people forever. Be encouraged to understand that there is no time in heaven; it will be only a moment and the people who have gone before us will turn around and see us; we will one day join them.

Matthew also used the prophet Jeremiah to communicate hope. Jeremiah’s prophecy dealt with children who were lost in war to the invading Babylonians. The prophecy is a lament with the hope that captivity will not be forever.

The disciple Matthew wanted us to see that the exile is over for us; Jesus has arrived, and the tears which were shed will shortly dry up. There may be a time of suffering we must endure, but there will be glory. Jesus is the Great Deliverer who brings us out of sin’s captivity and into the promises of God. He is our hope.

Jesus is the promised One who will deliver us from the tyranny of the devil. Christ is the hope of the nations, the Savior of the world. So, let us come back to the first Christmas which was the beginning of the end for evil on the earth.

Believers in Jesus are part of God’s victory, and they overcome the evil one by the blood of the lamb, acknowledging that Christ’s incarnation was essential for us. 

Just as Jesus made a radical break with his former life in heaven through the incarnation, we, too, must break with our old way of life.

God will save the people through this child Jesus. The greatest gift we can give in this season and throughout the coming year is the gift of grace, the presentation of the Christ child.

Loving God, help us remember the birth of Jesus so that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and the wisdom of the wise men.

Close the door of hate and open the door of love across the world.

Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting.

Deliver us from evil through the blessing of the Christ child.

Teach us to be happy with pure hearts.

Grant us grateful thoughts, devoted hearts, and gracious hands, through Jesus our Savior in the might of the Holy Spirit. Amen.