Tag: truth

Raised Into a Spiritual Body (1 Corinthians 15:35-49)

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

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 

Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.

So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man. (New International Version)

We have so far experienced, in this Christian Year:

  • Advent and the anticipation of Christ’s birth; a celebration of that birth in the Christmas season
  • Epiphany with it’s light shining on the salvation we enjoy for all kinds of people
  • Lent, as we moved slowly and silently toward the cross and practiced spiritual disciplines
  • Holy Week, by walking with Jesus in Jerusalem, to the Garden of Gethsemane, up the hill to where he was crucified

But that is not the end of the story. Christ is risen! On Easter Sunday we celebrated Christ’s resurrection from death. Now, we are in the season of Eastertide, an extended time of celebration in which we revel in new life. Life is possible and real because the resurrection of Jesus from death is real.

The resurrection is crucial and central to the entire Christian life. That’s why the Apostle Paul concluded his letter to the Corinthians with a long defense of its truth.

Today’s lesson zeros in on a particular point in Paul’s argument for the importance and place of resurrection in Christianity. He insisted that the resurrection – the spiritual body – is unique; it’s not like any other sort of body. And this is the body that believers will have in the future. Just as Christ was resurrected, we too, shall experience a resurrection.

We shall be transformed from being like Adam, the original person with a physical body, to being like the risen Christ, the first with a spiritual body.

Sometimes the Apostle Paul’s arguments can seem thick and hard to get through. So, allow me to put his line of thinking in a context which I deal with every day. In my work as a hospital chaplain, I visit patients on the cardiac units. The following is the sort of conversation I sometimes have:

Patient: “Ever since I had my heart operation, I don’t feel close to God. I’ve always had a good relationship with the Lord. But I don’t sense it. It’s as if God is distant. Did I do something wrong? Maybe God is punishing me.”

Chaplain: “Sounds like you really love God.”

Patient: “Yeah, I do. I don’t get it, why I’m like this now.”

Chaplain: “Think about this with me for a minute. Your body was just traumatized. Somebody opened up your chest and messed with your literal physical heart. And that doesn’t only affect your body. It messed with your spiritual heart, too. The two hearts are different, in some ways. But there’s a close relationship between the physical heart and the spiritual heart. Trauma is trauma. It impacts your whole person, not just part of you.”

Patient: “So, am I always going to feel this way?”

Chaplain: “It’s going to take a long time to physically heal from what your body has been through. It won’t take near as long for your spiritual heart to heal – but it will heal. You’ll be close to God again. But it probably isn’t going to happen today. What’s more, it’s possible that when you heal, you’ll actually feel even closer to God than before; after having been through this, it will be like you have a new lease on life.”

Paul’s understanding of the resurrection is not far off from these sort of interactions I have with hospital patients. We live the Christian life in the tent of this body, not knowing anything different. But we will eventually die. And when that happens, we never go back to the way things were when we were living on this earth.

We don’t just get resuscitated; we eventually get resurrected. We don’t become disembodied people after death, and at the end of the age when Christ returns. No, instead, we get a body – it’s our body, but it’s different, it’s changed, because it is a spiritual body. And it’s likely to be like nothing you’ve ever experienced before.

Life on this old fallen planet of ours is sometimes characterized by adversity, trouble, hardship, and even sometimes traumatic situations. But it will not always be this way. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from death changes everything.

Death will give way to life. There will be a spiritual body. We shall be healed in the complete sense of the word – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually – without any more death, disease, and destruction. Suffering will lead to glory.

This is a Christian perspective on resurrection. Since Christ is risen from death, and now has a spiritual body, so too, will his followers be raised to life with just such a body – so that we can be with the Lord forever, as it was intended when God originally created people in God’s image.

Resurrection means hope. We have the confident expectation that promises of an eternal spiritual body is coming. Just as a tiny seed is transformed into a plant, so we will be changed. For those who have had to struggle with the constant debilitations of the body, this is truly good news. And it’s no April Fools.

Lord Jesus, You suffered death but conquered it. You laid in the tomb, but on the third day, You rose again. You are the resurrection, our hope and our life. O glorious and victorious Redeemer, help us not to be afraid of death, for we must pass through it to see you face to face. And on the last day we will rise again because You said so. Amen.

Trust vs. Anxiety (Isaiah 30:15-18)

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

The holy Lord God of Israel
    had told all of you,
“I will keep you safe
if you turn back to me
    and calm down.
I will make you strong
    if you quietly trust me.”

Then you stubbornly said,
“No! We will safely escape
    on speedy horses.”

But those who chase you
    will be even faster.
As few as five of them,
or even one, will be enough
    to chase a thousand of you.
Finally, all that will be left
    will be a few survivors
as lonely as a flag pole
    on a barren hill.

The Lord God is waiting
to show how kind he is
    and to have pity on you.
The Lord always does right;
he blesses those who trust him. (Contemporary English Version)

God’s plan for our lives calls for times of retreat and renewal, of quiet patience and perseverance, for restraint and waiting.

Ancient Judah was experiencing one of their many periods of rebellion toward God’s commands. One of the things that happens – whether in ancient times or today – is that whenever we go off the road of God’s ways, our lives become characterized by a grand self-help program.

Those in the Judean royal court could not wait on God. They had to do something about Assyria. The Assyrian Empire was waning, and Judah wanted to take advantage of it, seeing an opportunity for some relative autonomy.

So, many of the activists in the royal court rushed to Egypt for help – not at all considering to turn toward God and wait on the Lord. God blesses those who trust and wait on divine promises and initiative. But, in their anxiety, the people of Judah would not exercise faith and patience.

As a result, the enemy would overtake them. The people’s refusal to take the quiet course would not end well for them.

On many days, as I attend to the hospitals for which I work, I visit many hurting people, including patients, their families, and teammates. In my time there, I deal with a vast array of emotional problems, spiritual struggles, and mental disorders. One of things I have discovered through this work is that people’s internal issues absolutely need to be expressed, out loud, to someone who cares and knows what to do with those expressions.

And this is not only a modern problem; the need to deal with our internal stuff has been there throughout all of human history. Every culture and society who does not attend well to personal and communal spiritual health is literally killing their bodies – because body and soul are inextricably connected in a union as one.

It continually amazes me that people who think nothing of going to a medical doctor, an emergency room, or having a surgery, would never think of getting help when their minds are mixed up, emotions are frayed, and spirits are downcast.

Stubbornly holding onto self-help to handle a spiritual crisis, refusing help from others, and ignoring God, is just as sure to kill you as believing that chest pains, shortness of breath, and inability to walk across the room will simply get better on its own.

Conversely, isolating oneself and calling it “waiting on God” and remaining passive – when the Lord has clearly told us to be active – will accomplish the same ends as the committed self-help person. Faith and action are not mutually exclusive terms. It takes some wisdom to know when to retreat, pray, and be patient; and when to take initiatives of faith, and trust God to work through action.

Rebellion gets us nowhere. It’s what puts us in the awkwardness of making bad decisions and discernments. The Lord had told the people of Judah to stay put and not rely on Egypt to help them. There were clear instructions through the prophets about what to do. But the people were too anxious, too impatient, wondering too much about whether God would show up or not.

The Spirit God gave us does not make us afraid. His Spirit is a source of power and love and self-control.

2 Timothy 1:7, ERV

No matter where we have been or what we have done, the Lord is continually waiting on us – and will consistently respond with grace and mercy to our petitions and overtures to live for God. It’s never too late to flee to God in quiet trust.

Running to God is not escaping our problems. Rather, the Lord enables us to face both our outward situations, as well as our inward thinking and feeling. It’s easy to engage in busywork and keep active when we are anxious; yet it is very difficult to sit still before God and be alone. Silence and solitude put us face to face with ourselves. And doing that is what many people would rather avoid.

“I’ll do it myself!” is the cry of many a person who is mentally, emotionally, and spiritually overwhelmed. That approach, however, is a highway to the grave. And, in fact, it is a stubborn rebellion that puts a stiff arm to God.

I’m not saying that opening-up is easy; I am stating that it is necessary to our spiritual and emotional health. It might be helpful to begin communicating with some vulnerability and authenticity to God. The following are some appropriate ways that might help:

  1. Be congruent between the outer self and inner self. Make sure your outside affect and behavior is congruent with your inside feelings and thoughts. If you are discouraged on the inside, but wear a smile and pretend to be spiritually with it, you’re not fooling God. You cannot receive grace apart from humble authenticity.
  2. Focus on feelings. You won’t get struck by lightning if you express your anger, or other emotions, to God. Be aware of how you are feeling. In fact, ask the Lord to help you understand your feelings. Share them openly as much as you can.
  3. Change questions into statements. Sometimes, when we have an attitude or a feeling, we’re afraid to say it and be open. So instead, we ask a question. Try changing questions such as “Do you love me?” into “I love you.” And, “Do you want me to do this?” to “I want to do your will.”
  4. Speak in the first person. Begin sentences with “I” instead of “you,” For example, ” I am happy that you are with me,” instead of asking, “Are you there?”
  5. Say out loud what you really want and need. It’s okay to do that. This is when it is appropriate to ask questions. The Lord’s ear is ready to listen.

Patient and confident trust in God is always a better option than anxious and nervous striving by yourself.

O God, the source of all health: So fill my heart with faith in your love, that with calm expectancy I may make room for your power to possess me, and gracefully accept your healing; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Whoever Believes (John 3:14-21)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Interview Between Jesus and Nicodemus, by James Tissot (1836-1902)

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. (New International Version)

For many, the truth about God’s purposes in Christ is confusing, even troubling. It was for Nicodemus. And even though there many today who simplify the exchange between Jesus and Nicodemus with a single Bible verse of John 3:16, taking a good look at the Gospel of John puts most of us with Nicodemus.

Nicodemus, a learned Jewish scholar, a Pharisee, found Christ’s words both confusing and troubling because it required him to let go of everything he understood – to let go and become like a newborn baby, receiving and discovering the world on new and different terms. In other words, Nicodemus had to unlearn some things before he could learn truth.

There are some things that are hard to grasp, not because they are so intellectually challenging, but because those things ask a lot of us, demanding our very lives. And so, we don’t so much want to understand; it would require a radical change.

But why would anyone not want to understand the good news that God so loved the world that gave the Son so that we may believe and have eternal life? Because we would then have to contend with the ways Jesus describes himself.

Jesus likened himself to the serpent that Moses lifted up in the desert (John 3:14; Numbers 21:4-9). In that story of Moses in the Old Testament book of Numbers, God sent poisonous snakes into the Israelite camp as punishment for the people’s incessant complaining against God.

Then, when the people repented, God told Moses to make a bronze snake, put it on a pole, and lift it up, so that anyone bitten by one of the poisonous snakes could see it and live. Jesus likened himself to the story. In the same way the bronze snake was lifted on a pole, Jesus explained that so must the Son of Man be lifted up, or exalted high above the people.

Visit of Nicodemus to Christ, by John La Farge, 1880

In the typical language of the Apostle John, using double meanings to a single concept, he meant to communicate that Jesus would be physically lifted onto the cross, above the people; and also that Jesus would be lifted up by God as the exalted One above all creation. (John 8:28; 12:32)

Just as the ancient Israelites were facing death because of their sin, and deliverance because of God’s action through Moses, so people everywhere in every age face the consequences of their sinful complaining; yet through the action of God through Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection and ascension, they can look up to the exalted and glorified Lord and receive deliverance from sin, death, and hell.

There is more to looking up at the lifted One than a mere incline of the head and eyes. In modern terms, we would refer to the sheer action of looking as an intellectual assent to faith. The Apostle John, however, means to have us believe, not simply acknowledge.

Jesus did not tell Nicodemus to simply acknowledge him as Savior, to accept him into the heart, and so, be saved. No, this was an encounter that left an intelligent man and an accomplished scholar scratching his head in bewilderment as he went back out into the darkness.

Today’s Gospel lesson is a story about how any one of us might reject the light offered to us because of the way it exposes what is dark within us. Therefore, to believe requires ultimate trust in another. It isn’t to acknowledge that Jesus was real and had an actual ministry on earth; it’s more than believing something happened in history in the ancient world of the first century.

To believe is to let our own lives be transformed by the Jesus we encounter in this story. And here is what that means:

  1. Realizing and becoming aware of the ways we are complicit in and benefit from having our loyalties elsewhere, other than Jesus. To believe demands us answering the question: Whom shall you serve?
  2. Placing our ultimate trust, allegiance, and loyalty in Jesus Christ. To believe begs the question: To whom will you commit all that you have, and all that you are?
  3. Forsaking all other competing loyalties and “gods,” including both secular and religious deities. To believe means a single-minded devotion, which asks of us all: To whom and to what will you forsake in order to embrace Jesus?
  4. Confronting inconvenient truths of our own personal values which clash with Christ’s ideals of righteousness. To believe presses us to answer the question: To whom and for what are you truly living for?
  5. Willing to die to self and to anything that would hinder knowing Jesus and him crucified, risen, ascended, and coming again. To believe forces us to ask ourselves: Am I willing to die for Jesus?

While there is nothing in this world worth killing for, there are things worth dying for. The lifting up of Jesus lets us know that the true life God has promised us is not the life that we can secure for ourselves through self-interest, caution, and theological debate.

Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Speak the Good Word (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
St. Paul the Apostle, Unknown artist

I’m giving you this commission in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is coming to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearance and his kingdom. Preach the word. Be ready to do it whether it is convenient or inconvenient. Correct, confront, and encourage with patience and instruction. 

There will come a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. They will collect teachers who say what they want to hear because they are self-centered. They will turn their back on the truth and turn to myths. But you must keep control of yourself in all circumstances. Endure suffering, do the work of a preacher of the good news, and carry out your service fully. (Common English Bible)

This letter from the Apostle Paul to Pastor Timothy was the last writing he ever crafted. Soon after sending this, according to historical tradition, Paul was martyred for his faith in the city of Rome, having been imprisoned there for two years. The letter contains some final words the Apostle wanted his young protégé to know that were important to him.

Paul left Timothy with a sacred charge to proclaim the gracious message of God – no matter the time nor circumstance – with all the divine patience and spiritual exhortation that the Lord gives.

A Word of Christ

The simple commission of Paul was to preach the word, proclaim the message, spread the good news. Paul called on Timothy to speak the word that God has spoken – the word passed on to him, first through his devout mother, then from his mentor, and finally from all the apostles. It’s a unified message of sound teaching concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ – God-breathed and committed to all God’s people who respond to the message in faith.

The responsibility is to not only hear the message, obey it, and guard it’s truth; the charge is to speak, to lift one’s voice and proclaim the message with confidence and without fear – because it is always open season on the proclamation of the gospel.

I don’t know what sort of picture this evokes for you to “preach the word.” Maybe you envision a preacher behind a pulpit in a church; or a guy with a bullhorn on a street corner; or an obnoxious coworker who takes any opportunity to puke the gospel onto another person; or some other picture which may be foreign to you.

Paul preaches in Athens, Unknown artist, 19th century

Please let me assure you that the Apostle Paul was not talking about any of those sorts of scenarios. The image is one of letting out something which is already inside of you, burning to come out and be heard.

It is to be so full of the life of Christ, that the words which come out of you are filled with that very life – a message of grace, redemption, hope, forgiveness, and love. And communicated in a way that also reflects the person of Jesus – an affect, gestures, posture, and tone of voice that resonates with another and is winsome, not annoying.

A Relevant Word

The person who proclaims the message of Christ does so in order to convince, encourage, rebuke, inform, and love. The messenger tells what another needs to hear, and not necessarily what they want to hear. This is a word that speaks to anyone in any situation within any sort of context or culture.

To speak with relevance in no way waters down the message of Christ. Rather, it means that the speaker takes great pains to talk in such a way as to help another in their own circumstance. Utilizing the mind and emotions, as well as the spirit, the preacher presents ideas, ethics, and feelings in order to announce good news.

And we are to always be patient with others. One must never resort to pressurized sales tactics to force another into the kingdom of God. The Word of God is a gracious message that provides life; and is not a big thick Bible that is used to smack somebody upside the head with condemnation.

Our responsibility is to be faithful in handling the message and proclaiming it with mercy. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to woo people to Jesus and purify them.

Don’t throw all over somebody a bucket of judgment, as if you are acting for God. Impatience, impertinence, impoliteness, and being impetuous, all belong to the devil’s imps, and have nothing to do with announcing good news of great joy for all the people.

An Uncompromising Word

Timothy lived in a society that was difficult in proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ. He lived in a city that had a grand temple to the goddess Artemis. He walked around seeing unethical practices and dubious living. Any of us would likely understand if Timothy shrunk back from having a bold proclamation of Christianity.

Paul speaking in the synagogue, a 12th century Byzantine mosaic

But the Apostle Paul was calling Timothy to preach good news without shrinking or shirking the message. One might be tempted to simply tell others what they’d like to hear and not stir the pot and cause any sort of conflict. Not everyone wants to hear the truth. For everyone who genuinely responds to a truthful and merciful message, there are four more persons who want none of it. They want what they want, and if someone says different, they’ll make their life hell.

These are the conspiracy theorists who would rather entertain spicy nuggets of opinion and speculation, than listen to evidence-based research and professionally peer reviewed material. They ground their ideas according to subjective taste and forsake objective documentation and witness.

Paul did not want Timothy coddling such persons or giving into them in any form whatsoever, because they have a severe hearing problem. People who won’t listen, constantly interrupt others, and believe they are always right, need a good dose of the uncompromising word of Christ.

In the face of those who refuse to listen and use their ears for good, Timothy was exhorted by Paul to be a steady teacher who keeps presenting the truth in intellectually and emotionally responsible ways. Timothy may have to endure suffering and put up with a bunch of simpletons giving him a hard time, but he was never to back down from sound and solid apostolic teaching.

It’s important that we all maintain a sense of emotional calm and intellectual soundness amidst all the crud within a given society. The believer is to avoid a discouragement that leads to abject silence.

Let us not be deterred from saying and doing what is right, just, and good. And let’s make sure that in the words we say and the behavior we display, there is the very life of Jesus Christ oozing out of us.

There are more than enough bad words being spoken every day; let’s instead speak the good word, full of grace and truth.

Soli Deo Gloria