Tag: spiritual life

The Call (Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Call to Worship, by Darrell Black

Confess Yahweh, because he is good,

            because his commitment is permanent.

Yisrael is pleased to say,

            “His commitment is permanent”…

Open the faithful gateways to me;

            when I come through them, I shall confess Yahweh.

This is Yahweh’s gateway;

            faithful people come through it.

I will confess you because you answered me

            and became deliverance for me.

The stone that the builders spurned

            became the head cornerstone.

This came about from Yahweh;

            it’s been extraordinary in our eyes.

This was the day that Yahweh made;

            so that we would celebrate and rejoice in it.

Oh, Yahweh, will you deliver us, please?

            oh, Yahweh enable us to succeed, please.

Blessed be the one who comes in Yahweh’s name;

            we are blessing you from Yahweh’s house.

Yahweh is God; he has shone light to us

– tie the festal offering with cords to the horns of the altar.

You are my God and I will confess you;

            my God, I will exalt you.

Confess Yahweh, because he is good,

            because his commitment is permanent.

(The First Testament, A New Translation by John Goldingay)

This psalm is the last of the Hallel (praise) psalms (Psalms 113-118) used at the Passover meal. It includes a summons for the entire community to praise God; an individual thanksgiving to the Lord; and a communal speech.

The Call to Confession

We are invited and called upon to recognize and confess Yahweh’s enduring steadfast love, which is a lasting and permanent commitment toward God’s people. Why? Because it is through a tenacious love that never gives up that brings healing, wholeness, and health to the community. Our relatedness to God makes all the difference in life.

“The unrelated human being lacks wholeness, for he can achieve wholeness only through the soul, and the soul cannot exist without its other side, which is always found in a ‘You.’ Wholeness is a combination of I and You, and these show themselves to be parts of a transcendent unity.”

Carl Jung, The Psychology of Transference

When it comes to healing – whether it be physical, emotional, or spiritual – love must be involved. The need for healing implies brokenness. And love is relational. Therefore, in order to experience the wholeness of healing, there needs to be another.

Love extended to one who requires mercy creates the opportunity to see light in the other, and to feel it in your own. And that energy brings the healing wholeness of both body and soul.

Every divine/human encounter, and each gracious intervention of God to people, is the chance to bring wholeness through the power of love by means of relationship. Communal worship affords us the opportunity to experience the steadfast love and commitment of God – as well as to steward that love well, for others who need it.

The Call to Thanksgiving

Everyone is on board for thanksgiving, right? Well, not so much. Like most things, it’s complicated. On the one hand, we have those persons who seem to never express gratitude for anything; it appears they are only capable of cynicism and sarcasm. And, on the other hand, are those who are incessantly positive, always thankful, no matter the circumstance; for them, it seems they are never living in the reality of a messed up world.

A reflexive response of gratitude to everything is merely a cheap thanksgiving. And a constant stream of ingratitude is simply taking the easy road of complaint. Thanksgiving ought to be thoughtful and well-placed. Gratitude is really a spiritual discipline that requires constant practice until it becomes a solid life skill.

The psalmist pictures the king, David, leading a procession of worshipers as they approach Yahweh. It’s as if the king is teaching the people how to go about entering God’s presence, and what role thanksgiving has in this relationship between God and humanity.

Central to that relationship are offerings of praise and thanksgiving for divine deliverance. Specifically, it is acknowledging gratitude from the place of a spiritual cornerstone. This is the foundation from which an individual’s and an entire community’s faith is rested upon.

The New Testament locates this vital cornerstone as Christ. Jesus is,

“‘the stone you builders rejected,
    which has become the cornerstone.’

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:11-12, NIV)

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. (Ephesians 2:19-20, NIV)

The Call to Commitment

The permanence of God’s steadfast love and loyalty toward people demands a response. In Christianity, because of the Lord’s commitment to us – through the person and work of Jesus Christ – there is opportunity for a reciprocal response of commitment to God in Christ through the Spirit.

This response of genuine worship and thanksgiving avoids the crush of the constant critic, on the one hand, and on the other hand, steers clear of ignoring suffering.

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
    a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
    will never be put to shame.”

Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

“The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone,”

and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble
    and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:4-10, NIV)

Holy Week is nearly upon us. The celebration and praise of Palm Sunday is coming, along with the suffering and death of Good Friday. This all sets the scene for a victorious resurrection which solidifies the Christian’s faith with the mortar of God’s steadfast love in Christ.

As we enter the Week, let us be open to the full range of thoughts and emotions that arise because of God’s loyal and loving commitment to us, and our reciprocal commitment to Christ. Let us be receptive to the call of love.

God of compassion and love, you know our faults and yet you call us to forgiveness instead of leveling judgment upon us. Keep us in your gracious presence, and give us your wisdom. Open our hearts to gratitude and commitment, and restore to us the joy of our salvation. Amen.

Remember Passover (Deuteronomy 16:1-8)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Exodus, by Yoram Raanan

Observe the month of Aviv and celebrate the Passover of the Lord your God, because in the month of Aviv he brought you out of Egypt by night. Sacrifice as the Passover to the Lord your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place the Lord will choose as a dwelling for his Name. Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste—so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt. Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days. Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until morning.

You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the Lord your God gives you except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary of your departure from Egypt. Roast it and eat it at the place the Lord your God will choose. Then in the morning return to your tents. For six days eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day hold an assembly to the Lord your God and do no work. (New International Version)

The first five books of the Old Testament are known by Christians as the Pentateuch. These same books are the Torah in Judaism. Deuteronomy is the fifth and final book; it is a restatement of God’s Law for the Israelites about to enter the Promised Land.

Several prominent theological themes are highlighted in the book of Deuteronomy. It vigorously advocates for exclusive loyalty to the monotheistic God, Yahweh. Yahweh is characterized as a transcendent Being, full of steadfast love and transformative justice.

Deuteronomy places significant emphasis upon the covenant relationship between God and Israel. The covenant was established with the patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – and affirmed at Mount Sinai after the exodus from Egypt, at the giving of the Law. This Law was graciously provided by God for the people; it is encapsulated in the Ten Commandments, and is to be reaffirmed as soon as Israel enters the land.

Moses receiving the Tablets of Law, by Marc Chagall, 1963

Therefore, the entire book of Deuteronomy looks forward toward a new existence in the Promised Land. This new society is to pursue justice and be devoted to righteousness. All Israel is to live in harmony with God and one another, enjoying the land and the covenant relationship.

The welfare of Israel depends upon upholding and maintaining the social and religious laws given by Yahweh. God’s commands are a divine gift, and if closely followed, will be the best humanitarian way of caring for the poor and disadvantaged, as well as bringing the people close to Yahweh.

The sacrificial system will revolve around a singular sanctuary in the religious capital. By locating sacrifices in a particular place, this has the effect of Jewish faith not becoming dependent on offerings, but instead on mercy, love, learning the law, and rituals that uphold reverence for God.

Perhaps the greatest of all the rituals is Passover. Israel’s experience of deliverance at the Red Sea and the centralization of worship in Jerusalem is remembered and celebrated at the festival of Passover every year.

In the original Passover, at the time of the exodus, the blood of a sacrificed lamb was smeared on the doorposts of each Jewish home. In doing this, it let the angel of death know to “pass over” that house, thereby only entering Egyptian homes that did not revere nor recognize God. This act was also the final miraculous act of ten plagues leveled on Egypt.

And There Was a Great Cry in Egypt, by Arthur Hacker, 1897

As the households of Egypt were grieving their dead, Israel was urged by the Egyptians to get out. Egypt feared what would happen if the Israelites remained. Therefore, Israel left post haste. They didn’t have any time for their bread to rise. The people ate unleavened bread so they could immediately leave Egypt.

So, from then on, every year in early Spring, Israel commemorates and remembers God’s deliverance of the people from slavery. God, through Moses, instructed the Israelites to mark Aviv as the first month; it is then that the Passover festival is to occur.

I believe that what we can takeaway from this Scripture, is that perhaps, we ought to stop trying to always have takeaways for everything – as if the Bible can be boiled down to some neat personal application for my life.

Aside from admitting I’ve had a bit of a cynical streak lately, we really must contend with seasons like Passover and Lent, and matters such as social justice and religious worship. These religious seasons are important enough to warrant what the late Eugene Peterson called “a long obedience in the same direction.”

By that phrase, Peterson meant that there are some spiritual practices that we must commit ourselves to year after year, even day after day, for the rest of our lives. Generations before did, and generations after us will need to, as well.

Spiritual growth and maturity take time; and we must patiently and consistently cultivate a sense of justice and a practice of righteousness over and over again.

Passover Seder, by Melita Kraus

One must fight for what they believe, each and every day. Spiritual growth takes a lot of time, grit, tenacity, and resilience. It requires patience and grace, perseverance and a good nature. And it is very much a skill which demands daily practice.

Contemporary society is obsessed with quick fixes and easy solutions. But the time-tested practices of Lent, rooted in the remembrances of Passover, are a Christian discipleship that is long on obedience in the same well-worn ancient directions.

We need to keep moving in the directions of deepening a life of prayer, learning the joy of service, growing in the worship of God, and discovering the virtues of humility and a concern for the welfare of everyone in the community.

In other words, to truly observe something, we need to do it, over and over, year after year. In observing the significant events and dates and seasons of the Christian Year, we can find the sort of spiritual support that will fortify our soul, and bless others.

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make within us new and contrite hearts, so that we may acknowledge our guilt and lament our shame. Let us obtain from you, O merciful God, reconciliation through the Cross, and empowerment through the Spirit, to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with you. Amen.

How Can Young People Keep Their Lives Pure? (Psalm 119:9-16)

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

How can young people keep their lives pure?
    By obeying your commands.
With all my heart I try to serve you;
    keep me from disobeying your commandments.
I keep your law in my heart,
    so that I will not sin against you.
I praise you, O Lord;
    teach me your ways.
I will repeat aloud
    all the laws you have given.
I delight in following your commands
    more than in having great wealth.
I study your instructions;
    I examine your teachings.
I take pleasure in your laws;
    your commands I will not forget. (Good News Translation)

Every historical age, and every generation of people has its own struggles. Of course, the challenges vary widely depending on who you ask – young adults of different races, income levels, and geographic locations often have different concerns or prioritize the same concerns differently.

Young people today have particular challenges concerning money, school, violence, sex, climate change, social media, and many other issues. And they face them in different ways than I had to deal with them (back when I was considered young).

Yet, no matter the struggle, nor the concern, the ability to remain set apart for godly purposes is perhaps the main challenge for a spiritual young person. How can a young person keep their life pure?

The psalmist asked the question, and gave a straightforward answer: By obeying God’s commands.

Knowing the answer, however, is only part of attaining and maintaining purity of life. One must put in the hard work necessary to achieve it and hold onto it. And the psalmist helps out with that, as well.

An engagement with the following spiritual practices is how the young person can live into obedience to God and be pure. It’s necessary to frame them as “I will” statements, so that we continually understand that these spiritual practices are vital, and not optional, to a successful life of purity.

I Will Put Energy Into Prayer

It’s one thing to throw up a few prayers in the heat of the moment. But it’s an altogether different thing to devote oneself to prayer and intentionally put the time and energy into praying.

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. (Colossians 4:2, NIV)

Let there be no excuses in developing a robust prayer life – with the content of those prayers including petitions to avoid falling into disobedience.

I Will Hold God’s Word In My Heart

This is the primary means of keeping sin at bay and maintaining purity and holiness. The Scriptures are meant to be read, ingested, meditated upon, ruminated on, contemplated, and lived. Bibles are not intended to adorn coffee tables; they are designed for their contents to be known.

We can only hold what we have. To keep God’s Word in the heart, it must be taken into that heart.

I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:11, NLT)

I Will Praise God

Praise to God arises organically whenever we truly take in the words of God. That’s because God’s Word is life. Praising the Lord is a consistent theme throughout Holy Scripture, as people experience the grace and goodness of God.

I will praise you, Lord!
    You always do right.
I will sing about you,
    the Lord Most High. (Psalm 7:17, CEV)

I’ve thrown myself headlong into your arms—
    I’m celebrating your rescue.
I’m singing at the top of my lungs,
    I’m so full of answered prayers. (Psalm 13:5-6, MSG)

I Will Repeat Aloud God’s Word

It’s a good thing to read the Bible and know the commands of God. It’s an even better thing to read, out loud, and read it more than once.

“…Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. He read it aloud from daybreak till noon… in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.” (Nehemiah 8:2-3, NIV)

Ezra Reads the Law to the People, by Bernadette Lopez

This, in fact, is how we actually get God’s Word impressed on our minds and into our hearts. It’s important for Scripture to move from our short term memory into our long term memory. Then, we can draw from it, especially in those times when we need immediate wisdom or comfort or help.

Just as praise is organic, so God’s Word can spontaneously come out of us – that is, if we have prepared ourselves by filling up the soul to the full of Scripture. Then, helpful words and theology begin to overflow out of us, and benefits everyone.

I Will Delight in Obedience

Submission doesn’t come naturally to most people; it requires intentional development. We need a plan for getting the commands of God inside us. Then they can be familiar to us. And we can follow those commands with all the grace and ability the Lord grants us.

This is more than woodenly following some rules. Keeping to the letter of the Law only engages the mind. The heart needs to be involved, as well. We must also keep the spirit of the Law. And that can happen by learning to delight in obeying God.

Trust in the Lord and do good;
    dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart…

The Lord makes firm the steps
    of the one who delights in him;
though he may stumble, he will not fall,
    for the Lord upholds him with his hand. (Psalm 37:3-4, 23-24, NIV)

I Will Study God’s Word

Learning to delight in God’s commands logically leads toward wanting to examine those commands more closely, to take a good hard look at the biblical teachings available to us.

We don’t necessarily need to become Bible scholars in order to study. We just need the desire and a way to take a closer examination at Scripture. A good way to begin is engaging in a practice known as Lectio Divina.

Lectio Divina is an ancient Latin term which means “spiritual reading.” It is to read Holy Scripture not just to know its contents, but to experience its power to restore, heal, transform, and draw close to God. 

This is a simple way to prayerfully read the Bible, meditate on its message, and listen for what God may be saying for us to do. The goal is to become more Christ-like.

Lectio Divina is based upon reading a selected text of Scripture three times. Each reading is followed by a period of silence after which we respond to God with what we are hearing as we listen.

First Reading

During the first reading, read the text aloud twice. Read slowly and carefully. The purpose of the first reading is to hear the text and listen for a word, phrase or idea that captures your attention. Focus your attention on it, repeating it within your mind several times.

Second Reading

During the second reading, read the text again. This time, focus your attention on how the selected word, phrase or idea speaks to your life. What does it mean for you today? How is Christ, the Word, speaking to you about your life through this word, phrase or idea? After reading, observe a period of silence, then express a brief prayer to God.

Third Reading

Read the text again. This time, focus on what God is calling you to do or to become. Experiencing God’s presence changes us. It calls us to something. During this final reading, focus on what God is calling you to do or to be. Again, observe a period of silence, then pray to God about what you believe you are being called to do or to be.

I Will Take Pleasure in God’s Word

It is probably a foregone conclusion, that when we commit our energy to prayer, hold the Word near and dear to our heart, praise God, speak aloud the words of God, delight in and study divine instruction, we will find ourselves enjoying every moment of it – and living a pure and holy life.

We will discover that God takes pleasure in us. This enjoyment of God over us is so compelling and gracious, that it’s almost as if we cannot help but reciprocate with praise, adoration, and devotion to holiness of life.

There is no arm-twisting in this realm of enjoyment. No need to gin-up motivation, nor to try and get obedience and purity out of others.

The sooner we all learn that the world truly spins on an axis of mercy, the quicker folks will realize a better way to live than endless rules and pronouncements.

For the Lord is always true to the basic divine character of pure steadfast love through what is right, just, and good. Amen.

Life Through Death (John 12:20-33)

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

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew, then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say: ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. (New Revised Standard Version)

The fifth Sunday in Lent is now here. We are quickly approaching Jerusalem. Holy Week will be here before you know it. 

Why is this all significant? Because Jesus is important. By taking advantage of Lent with its focus on spiritual discipline, prayer, and repentance, we come face-to-face with the shadowy parts of our selves. We discover that within us there is the pull to hold-on to unhealthy rhythms and habits of life, as well as a push to arrange our lives with the fragmentation of disordered love.

Perhaps our reflexive response to things we do not like about ourselves is to either use sheer willpower to change or try to somehow manage our brokenness, as if we could boss our way out of darkness. The problem and the solution are much more radical than we often would like to admit.

We must die. 

Yes, you heard that right. This is the teaching of Jesus – to die to ourselves. Sin cannot be managed or willed away – it must be eradicated and completely cut out, like the cancer it is. Transformation can only occur through death. 

Jesus used the familiar example of a seed to communicate his point. A tiny little seed can grow, break the ground, and develop into something which provides sustenance for others. It does no good to remain a seed in the ground.

Christ was only telling others to do, what he himself was willing to do. Jesus is the ultimate example of the one who died to himself, and literally died for us. Through suffering and death, he secured deliverance for us from guilt and shame. 

By his wounds we are healed. Through his tortuous death a resurrection became possible – and we must always remember that there must be a death if there is to be a resurrection. Death always precedes life. There is suffering before glory.

Through dying to self, and following Jesus, there is the hope of transformative change which the world so desperately needs. If we persist in making puny attempts at trying to straddle the fence in dual/rival kingdoms, we will be spiritually schizophrenic and left with a divided soul. 

Following Jesus – leaving all to walk with him – is true repentance and authentic discipleship. The act of journeying with Christ is the means to a new life. Change is possible by letting Jesus Christ be the center from which all of life springs.

Maybe you think I’m being too forceful, too insistent about this Jesus stuff. 

Yes, you have perceived well. I am being quite single-minded about the need for dying to self and living for Christ. 

Somehow, within many corners of Christianity, this wrongheaded notion that suffering is not God’s will has made it into the life of the church. But I’m here to say, on the authority of God’s Holy Word (not to mention your own internal gut and conscience) that dying to ourselves is necessary. And it hurts. The epistle reading for today bears this out:

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.  Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. (Hebrews 5:7-9, NRSV)

Christians are not above their Master. Even Christ’s life on this earth, before his death and resurrection, was marked with suffering. Even Jesus learned obedience through struggle and adversity. Jesus Christ did what he now asks of us. 

The Son gave up himself to do the Father’s will. So, we must give up ourselves in submission to King Jesus.  Jesus offered loud cries and tears, and submitted to what the Father wanted. His followers must do no less. 

We don’t get to choose which parts of Christ’s life and teaching we will adhere to, and which ones we won’t, as if Jesus were some spiritual buffet line. All who live for Jesus, follow him into the path of suffering, of death to self, and of new life through the power of his resurrection.

Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

How do we follow Jesus through dying to self? What does that mean for you and me on a practical daily basis?

Surrender

Every moment of every day is an opportunity for giving ourselves to Jesus. We have hundreds, maybe thousands, of small daily decisions with the use of our time, money, energy, and relationships. 

If we have tried to fix what is broken inside of us, we will likely just try to hastily fix the problems and the people in our lives – and then move on with getting things done on our to do list. 

Instead, there is a need to surrender ourselves – to create the sacred space for solitude and silence, prayer and repentance. 

Take the time to sit with a person in pain and listen. Reflect on how to use your money in a way which mirrors kingdom values. Begin to see your life as a holy rhythm of hearing God and responding to what he says. It takes intentional surrender to do that.

Sacrifice

Holding-on to our precious stuff and time is the opposite of sacrifice. 

Are we truly willing to give-up everything to follow Jesus? 

It is more than true that we are not Jesus. Our sacrifice and suffering are not efficacious, that is, it doesn’t deliver other people from sin. Only Christ’s death does that. Yet, we are still called to sacrifice. The Apostle Paul understood this, with a statement that I’ll let you wrestle with and mull over without comment on my part:

I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. (Colossians 1:24, NRSV)

Happiness is important; but it isn’t the summum bonum of life. There is more to life than living for self. Jesus calls us to see our communities, neighborhoods, and families as a mission field of grace to a world who needs him. That takes sacrificial love on our part.

Christianity is not really a religion that’s for people who have put neat theological answers and tidy packaged certainties to all of life’s questions. 

Rather, Christianity is a dynamic religion of learning to follow Jesus, discovering how to die to self, and struggling to put Christ’s teaching and example into practice. 

Those who don’t struggle are in big trouble. But those who go through the pain of dying to themselves for the sake of their Lord, find that the fruit they harvest leads to eternal life.

May you struggle well, my friend.