Tag: theology

Recover the Relational Commands (1 Timothy 6:13-16)

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

In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen. (New International Version)

Jesus is Lord, and Ceasar is not. The Apostle Paul’s letter to Timothy, in some ways, could be summed up in this way.

As Timothy ministered to the fledgling church in Ephesus, he was to continually keep his eyes on Jesus and take his cues for ministry on the apostolic teaching handed down to him. Timothy was not to get caught up in the fear of living in an Empire that commanded fealty to Ceasar as the supreme being over all.

Timothy was to flee all that is contrary to the sound doctrine of Christian faith. He was instead to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Paul encouraged and exhorted Timothy to fight the good fight of the faith; and take hold of the eternal life to which he was called. Timothy was to live into his confession of Christ and his call from God.

Embrace Jesus as Lord, and quit trusting in Ceasar as Lord.

Although we see nothing subversive about today’s New Testament lesson, it very much was when Paul originally wrote it. The Apostle was essentially saying that, as Timothy goes about pastoring the church at Ephesus within the Roman Empire, he must always uphold the sovereignty and lordship of Jesus Christ as supreme – which, if seen by Roman authorities, would be taken as a subversive action against the state.

The Empire cares about submission to the state, and would see Jesus as Lord as Timothy and Paul teaching people to submit to a different ruler than Ceasar. And they would be right because neither Paul nor Timothy had any intention of engaging in the cult of Ceasar.

Contrary to the Roman imperial gods, and Ceasar himself, Paul lifted up the God who gives life to everything. It is this God – embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ – whom Timothy is encouraged to maintain a steadfast and consistent commitment to. And, what’s more, this commitment is to be carried out without any spot or blame.

Timothy had no need to bully people or shame others into accepting and holding onto the gospel. The means and the methods of how we embrace our charge from God matters a lot. By persevering in faith, holiness, and humility, Timothy would preserve himself and be of benefit to his listeners.

Believers are to keep up this spiritual commitment until Christ returns. It is always open season on gospel proclamation and Christian growth and maturity – lived with a gracious spirit.

By looking to Jesus, followers of Christ can maintain their witness. Times of discouragement are bound to come. And in those difficult seasons of life, we are not to change or switch our allegiance to the political powers. As important as government is, politicians are not saviors; and a particular system of government is not going to deliver us from our greatest oppressions.

The Apostle Paul described Jesus as the King of kings and Lord of lords, the blessed and only Ruler. Christ is  sovereign over all earthly powers.

Furthermore, God alone is immortal and lives in unapproachable light. God is pure light, and in the Lord there is no darkness. God’s glory is bright and blinding; therefore, no one can see God. To this God deserves honor and might forever.

The mighty and holy God will fulfill all divine promises. Paul was looking to reinforce some courage in Timothy by reminding him of the sort of God they both serve.

In our current and contemporary world, it’s easy to become discouraged. Injustice abounds. Hardness of heart is everywhere. An inability to truly see one another is rife. And people look everywhere and to anyone who appears successful. They want to know the secret in how to survive and thrive on this earth, in their workplaces, and in their homes.

But it’s no secret. The hard work of relationships is what it takes – both human and divine. There is no replacement or surrogate work to the labor of investing yourself into others lives. There’s no substitute for a relationship with God which involves prayer and basic Scripture reading, worship and spiritual disciplines; and face to face relations with actual real people – getting to know them, their joys, their fears, and what motivates them.

Until we recover things such as spiritual mentoring, spiritual practices, group prayer, congregational worship, and create the time for relationships, we shall continue to struggle with a fundamentally broken world and all of its dysfunctional relationships.

No matter the organization, the neighborhood, the family, or the church, we need real people to do honest real work. Whenever a manager, a block captain, a parent, or a pastor allows themselves to be vulnerable and authentic – and lives on the same level as those they serve – then no one is looking for a secret sauce to success.

The Christian’s path of life is always to involve humility, gentleness, mercy, purity, and peacemaking, in doing the work of right relations with the people around them. This is the way of Christ.

Trying to discover a process or a system – apart from the muck of relationships – will fail, every time. This is the way of Ceasar.

Paul took the time and invested the effort into his relationship with Christ. Then, he put himself in a position to mentor others in the faith. Furthermore, he encouraged people like Timothy to do the same. Apart from this work, there is no Christianity.

Believers in Jesus are here today because of Paul and Timothy and the body of teaching and work they passed on to others who, in turn, did the same.

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Timothy 2:2, NIV)

It’s time to roll up your sleeves and fulfill the calling you have received, the calling of righteousness (right relationships) with both God and others – because Jesus is Lord, and Ceasar is not.

Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

What Is Your View of God? (Psalm 86)

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

Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
    for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you;
    save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God; be gracious to me, O Lord,
    for to you do I cry all day long.
Gladden the soul of your servant,
    for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
    abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you.
Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
    listen to my cry of supplication.
In the day of my trouble I call on you,
    for you will answer me.

There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
    nor are there any works like yours.
All the nations you have made shall come
    and bow down before you, O Lord,
    and shall glorify your name.
For you are great and do wondrous things;
    you alone are God.
Teach me your way, O Lord,
    that I may walk in your truth;
    give me an undivided heart to revere your name.
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
    and I will glorify your name forever.
For great is your steadfast love toward me;
    you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

O God, the insolent rise up against me;
    a band of ruffians seeks my life,
    and they do not set you before them.
But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
Turn to me and be gracious to me;
    give your strength to your servant;
    save the child of your maidservant.
Show me a sign of your favor,
    so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame,
    because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me. (New Revised Standard Version)

The biblical psalms are first and foremost a collection of prayers. Spanning the scope of the human condition, and plumbing the depths of human emotion, we find that there are psalms for every sort of situation we may find ourselves in – whether the circumstance is good or bad.

In David’s particular case, he knew what it was like to have evil men hate him and pursue taking his life through no fault of his own. Although I have never faced adversity to such a degree as David did, I do know something about people who, to put it bluntly, just flat-out hate my guts. It feels awful, and it can be terribly draining emotionally and spiritually. Having disrespectful and rude people talk behind your back (and sometimes even to your face) is in direct contrast to who God is.

God is described by David as merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and faithful. Whereas insolent people objectify others and seek their own selfish agendas, God always acts in accord with a basic character of love and grace. 

Based upon the nature of just and benevolent God, we can choose to cry out, just like David did, to show us a sign of God’s favor. We can pray for God to provide us with some tangible communication of divine love in ways we can understand so that we can be helped and receive the kind of comfort we need through our adversity.

Be assured that with such a God, our pleas, cries, and tears will be noticed, affirmed, and answered. We can trust the sovereign Lord of all creation to address the insolence and injustice that exists around us and toward us.

All of this talk about adverse circumstances and unjust people, gets down to our view of God and our theological understanding of the basic Divine nature and purpose. 

For some people, God is up there, somewhere, like some white-bearded old guy who is aloof to what is going on down here – there is neither anything personal nor personable about him, at all. 

For others, God is a force which binds all things together. In this theology, God exists, but you are never quite sure how to connect – it’s like a crapshoot trying to get in touch with him. 

For yet others, God is perpetually perturbed about something; God has a bee in his bonnet, and it is apparently our job to figure out what he is so sullen and upset about all the time so that we can appease him in some way.

However, the psalmist David, sees God in wholly other ways than this. For David, God is personal, knowable, and reachable. David thought about God in ways which transcend either gendered or personality-type categories. 

Note the descriptions David provided: a willingness to forgive; an abiding, consistent, and steadfast presence of divine love; always having the time and desire to listen; possessing the power and ability to provide help and protection; being kind and merciful; not being easily angered; and extending needed comfort and consolation.

Now this is a God you can sink your teeth into – attentive, engaged, and anything but upset all the time. This is the reason why David has confidence to ask for deliverance, direction, and delight. Such a God is like a caring grandmother who seeks to always love and serve, and not a crotchety old curmudgeon who always seems bothered by everyone and everything.

If your theology and your view of God cannot support and bear the weight of life’s hardest circumstances, then you need a different view of God!

I invite you to see the God of David. Theology proper discerns the being, attributes, and works of God as fundamentally faithful and loving. This God has both the ability and the will to meet and satisfy your life’s greatest needs.

Great God of David, you are above all things and beside all things and with all things. You are uniquely positioned and powerful to walk with me through all the situations of my life. Thank you for sending the Son of David to make real your promises to me. Amen.

What is Your View of God? (Psalm 33:1-12)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
God’s Love… by Hope G. Smith

Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous.
    Praise befits the upright.
Praise the Lord with the lyre;
    make melody to him with the harp of ten strings.
Sing to him a new song;
    play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

For the word of the Lord is upright,
    and all his work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
    the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made
    and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle;
    he put the deeps in storehouses.

Let all the earth fear the Lord;
    let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him,
for he spoke, and it came to be;
    he commanded, and it stood firm.

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
    he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
    the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord,
    the people whom he has chosen as his heritage. (New Revised Standard Version)

One of the reasons I adore the biblical psalms is that they present a majestic God who is full of goodness and steadfast love. The Lord’s very character is disposed toward justice and righteousness. Every word of God comes from this place of control and compassionate care.

I agree with the psalmist’s view of God because it resonates with my own experience. I have found that the God of the Psalms is high above all creation as the sovereign ruler, as well as intimately close as a friend.

The words, then, which proceed from the mouth of God are always just, right, good, fair, and loving. If God’s basic character is love, then everything God says and does comes from love. And that is precisely why I am completely devoted to this Lord.

Believers can sing a new song and revel in the Lord’s presence because they discern that everything comes down to God. That is, the way we view God is the way we will live our lives. 

For example, if we tend to see God as a stern Being whose main activity is to continually rebuke and punish people for their sin, then we will live with a constant sense of guilt and anxiety for fear of angering such a God. We will invariably live a performance-based life trying to pull ourselves up by our spiritual bootstraps in order to please or placate such a God who is always looking over our shoulder to make sure that we do not mess up.

That’s a miserable life, indeed! This is why many people internally say to themselves, “To hell with it!” and live in outright rebellion against a God who seems not to care a wit about their happiness. 

The cruelties of this world seem only to be God mocking their abysmal failure at being decent people. It would be like telling my grandson with epilepsy to stop having seizures, as if my love for him is dependent on him being seizure-free. Most people would consider it abusive for a parent or grandparent to yell at a kid for having seizures. With that kind of view of God, I wouldn’t want to know him either. And if that’s the sort of god you’re buying into, you need a new god.

But, on the other hand, if we understand God as a loving parent who is pained by the damage guilt and shame has done to the souls of people, then we are open to seeing the grace of God coming to set broken spirits right again.

With Christianity, the death of Christ is the ultimate act of love in taking care of the sin issue once for all. God in Christ did for us what we could do for ourselves; he gave his life so that we could live as we were intended to live: enjoying God and God’s creation forever.

In this view of God, the task of spiritual formation is one of constantly replacing destructive understandings of God with the kind of thoughts of God that filled the mind of Jesus himself. 

And the only good way of doing that is through the basic spiritual disciplines of Scripture reading and prayer, hearing the words of God. In order to listen well, we engage in practices of silence and solitude, as well as praise and celebration, that helps us connect with God’s Word. 

The grand redemptive story of the Bible is that the steadfast love of God has found its apex and fulfillment in the incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus. Therefore, all of Holy Scripture is to be viewed through these lenses of the grace of God in Christ. It is a very different picture than the one of an indifferent God.

Seeing God from the perspective of grace brings a joyous way to live because it views God as generous and hospitable. From such an angle, the logical and appropriate response is one of gratitude. 

All false gospels have at their core a kind of you-are-bad-try-harder approach. Preachers of such an ilk only rail against people as being scum buckets of sin and offer no real hope of transformation in Christ. It promotes a grace-less religion, and it is nothing less than biblical malpractice.

I take heart that if we have trouble seeing God as we ought, or experience difficulty viewing life as it is meant to truly be lived, we can ask God to give us wisdom. And the promise connected to that encouragement to pray is that God will give generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to them. (James 1:5)

In the psalmist’s view of God, prayer is not a chore but a delight; service is not drudgery but a willing response; reading Scripture is not a mandatory exercise but a wonderful practice of knowing God better; and praise organically erupts from the depths of our being, because we have spiritual eyes to see that everywhere we look, the whole earth is filled with the steadfast love of God.

Bless us with Love, O Merciful God;
That we may Love as you Love!
That we may show patience, tolerance,
Kindness, caring and love to all!
Give me knowledge; O giver of Knowledge,
That I may be one with my Creator and all creation!
O Compassionate One, grant compassion to us;
That we may help all people in need!
Bless us with your Love, O Lord.
Bless us with your Love. Amen.

Cyber-Monday Is (Not) My Master (Romans 6:1-11)

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

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (New International Version)

Not many Christians can quote these verses of the Apostle Paul to the Romans, even though they encapsulate the heart of Christian theology about God, humanity, and sin. Maybe that’s why so many people have their own alternative story:

So what do we do? We get on-line and do some shopping, that’s what we do!

Should we keep on missing out on sales so that the great market economy keeps on slashing prices, so I have to compete for what I want? I should hope not! If we’ve left Black Friday, where sales is sovereign, how can we avoid Cyber-Monday? Or didn’t you realize what kind of price cuts are going on?

You were baptized into the ultimate deal. When you signed up for those holiday sale alerts, you left that old country of brick and mortar sales behind; you’ve entered into the new country of one touch shopping—a new life in a new cyber world!

That’s what baptism into the market economy means. When we are immersed into the ways of the savvy shopper, we are raised up with a whole new credit line! Each of us is raised into a light-filled computer screen world so that we can see where we’re going in our new sales-sovereign country.

Could it be any clearer? Our old way of a newspaper coupon clipping life was nailed to that old printing press, a decisive end to that miserable life—no longer captive to the mail carrier’s showing up at the mailbox!

If we get included in the on-line list, we also get included in those life-saving sales. We know that when the price drops it will eventually rise again. But never again will the end of the sale have the last word. The sale’s been brought to us; we don’t have to go to it. Think of it this way: physical stores and newspapers speak a dead language that means nothing to you; Cyber-Monday speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word.

Cyber-Monday. It’s no wonder Americans keep creating new holidays centered in sales events. After all, the impulse to shop runs high in most Westerners. Shopping can quite easily move from necessity to compulsion. Before you know it, we can be consuming without much restraint. 

On-line shopping, especially, is just so darn easy and can trigger the brain just as much as any addiction. There is often a very thin line between justified shopping and sinful rationalization of consumption. So, how do we say “no” in the face of competing choices? Whatever besetting sin is in our lives, how do we put it aside and rid ourselves of it? 

One of the practical ways of approaching this answer is to read Romans 6, not from a generic standpoint, but make it very personal. In other words, it could be quite helpful to make all of the pronouns personal and name the specific sin when sin is mentioned. For example, it could look something like this:

“What shall I say, then? Shall I go on shopping so that grace may increase? By no means! I died to shopping; how can I live in it any longer?  Or don’t I know that I am baptized into Christ Jesus and, so, am baptized into his death? I am therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, I, too, may live a new life.”

You can put your own besetting sin or struggle into the text: 

“If I have been united with him like this in his death, I will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For I know that my old self was crucified with him so that shopping or gossiping or lying or overeating or alcoholism or legalism, etc. might be done away with, that I should no longer be a slave to shopping – because I have died and have been freed from the compulsive and obsessive need to shop.”

I think you get the idea. We are to count ourselves dead to all the addictions, compulsions, and activities that we use to replace the finished work of Christ. Instead, we are to reckon ourselves dead to it but alive to God in Christ. 

The struggle against sin comes down to daily affirmations of faith that we belong to God through Jesus – and not to some other master. Yes, the daily work of spiritually affirming our identity might seem mundane, but it is quite necessary to achieving practical victory.

Lord God, as we begin this season of Advent, grant us grace for seeking your kingdom first; and our fiefdom of self, last. Rather than spending more money and expending more worry, help us invest our time and treasures, talent and tears into your just and right way of life. Free us to love and serve others with joy, with the same generous love and sacrificial care you lavish on us. Amen.