Author: Tim Ehrhardt

I'm just a common ordinary pastor, chaplain, father, grandfather, and dog owner who loves the smell of a genuine leather Bible and the aroma of its message. I'm on a quest to track down the best Bibles, how to best read and use them, and to discover the encouragement inside.

Luke 7:31-35

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            I am quite sure that all of us at some point in our lives have been in a no-win type of situation.  Even Jesus experienced it.  John the Baptist came as an ascetic, eating no bread and being a teetotaler and the people thought he had a demon.  Then, when Jesus came on the scene doing just the opposite, eating and drinking and having a grand old time, the people accused him of being a drunkard and a glutton.  When it came to the religious authorities of the day, Jesus was like the Rodney Dangerfield of the ancient world – he never got any respect from them.
 
            I’m actually a bit relieved that Jesus went through that kind of scenario.  Sometimes it just seems that, with some people, I can never quite do anything right – they grump and complain no matter what I do or say.  Wise King Solomon was familiar with such people; he called them fools.  “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself.”  Then, in the very next proverb it says, “Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes” (Proverbs 26:4-5).  So, which is it?  How do I handle a fool?  The answer is:  you don’t.  A fool is going to be a fool no matter what you do or say.  Handling them is a no-win situation.
 
            So, what do we do with such people?  Jesus just went about his mission despite what the foolish generation was saying about him.  And we must do the same.  Some people are going to talk, gossip, and label you something you aren’t.  We don’t take our cues from fools.  We find our security in Jesus, live and love just like him, and let the critics blow out their blowholes into the air.
 

 

            Wise Jesus, you handled people as well as anyone could, yet, they still criticized you.  Help me to live and speak wisely so that when people talk it isn’t because of my foolishness but because of my love.  Amen.

Grace Is the Word

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
Whether we are aware of it or not, the world spins on the axis of grace; without God’s mercy life as we know it would cease to exist.  Judgment and death are never the final say over the earth – grace is the word that changes everything and transforms the impossible into the realm of reality.
 
The large Old Testament book of Isaiah is thick with the message of judgment for both Israel and the nations that surrounded her.  The sins of Israel were many.  The primary offenses were injustice toward the needy with the have’s taking manipulative advantage of the have-not’s; and, empty worship rituals toward God.  Social and spiritual corruption was rampant.  God pleaded with the people through his prophets to stop doing wrong and start doing justice, encouraging the oppressed, and defending the causes of people who do not have the power to defend themselves (Isaiah 1:10-17).
 
            Although God’s judgment was imminent through the powerful Assyrian Empire, God would not annihilate his people.  God promised that a Righteous Branch would grow up from the seemingly dead stump of Israel.  A child would be born.  A Messiah would be given.  There would be hope in Israel.  Heartfelt authentic praise will again fill the air.  Proclamation of God’s great name will again be on the lips of Israel.
 
            What is remarkable about all this is God’s grace.  God made promises to Israel not based upon what they would or would not do; God made promises to his people by his own radically free love.  It was not a situation of making a deal – “if, Israel, you get your act together then I, God, will be good to you.”  No!  Before Israel even had a chance to return to the Lord, God was already choosing to be gracious and merciful.
 
            If we miss the message of God’s grace in the Holy Scriptures, we have missed salvation because only grace can save us.  What we have in common with the Israelites of old is that we both are totally dependent upon God’s amazing grace.  Without grace, we are lost.  There is praise because it is a response to the incredible grace God gives which is completely undeserved (Isaiah 12:1-6). 
 
            Grace is the thing that is distinctive about Christianity – no other religion, no other place will you find grace amidst the awful muck of the world.  Grace is love that seeks you out when you have nothing to give in return.  Grace is recklessly generous.  Grace does not use carrot sticks, scorecards, or power politics.  Grace does not demand – it only gives.  Grace is unconditional acceptance given to an undeserving person by an unobligated giver.  That is what God did for Israel.  That is what God has done for us.  And when we get a hold of this truth, even a little bit, there is a cascade of praise that comes rolling out of our hearts and onto our lips.
 
            The prophecy of Isaiah is an adventure of God’s reckless love toward unlovable people, which is why it is one of the most quoted books of the Old Testament by Jesus.  Jesus came because of grace.  Jesus came to release us from our obsessive need to be right, our compulsion to be rewarded, and all our anglings to be respected.  Because Jesus came to set sinful captives free, life does not have to be a joyless effort to justify and validate ourselves before others.  The grace of God in Christ is a game-changer.  And when we get a glimpse of it we are forever altered and undone by its mercy.  Grace brings praise.
 
            When grace takes hold of a congregation there is no mumbling of songs – there is a shouting aloud and singing for joy because God is great!  Grace brings such joy and gladness that we do not care what we look like to other people; we are going to shout and sing and express our joy!  Yes, there is an important place for contemplative, reverent, reflective worship… and, there is a place for completely letting go, becoming unhinged, and dancing before Jesus!
 

 

The season of Advent is all about God’s relentless pursuit of wayward people – the anticipation of grace coming in the form of an infant – and the bringing of grace to a people living in darkness. Let us return to the Lord.  Let us be captivated by grace.  Let us renew our love for Jesus.  Let us lose ourselves in praise and adoration of the One who gave everything for us.  Let us worship Christ the King.  Let us proclaim his name as exalted over everything.

Isaiah 11:1-9

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            No more appropriate Scripture could be highlighted during the season of Advent:  “And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.”  As Christians, we believe this is a prophecy of Jesus in whom all of these virtues exist in wonderful perfection and practice.
 
            Jesus has so clearly identified with us that we are in a vital union with him.  He still exists here on earth in the person of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus was sent by the Father.  With the Father and the Son, the Spirit was sent to press the redemptive events of Jesus into the believer’s heart.  This is basic robust Trinitarian theology.  But these are not abstract ideas.  Prayer, discernment, and listening are the pathways forward to discovering the wisdom, counsel, and knowledge we need in order to live and serve well as Christians.
 
            In many quarters of Christianity the church exists as a mere stump of its former existence.  In many Christians’ daily experience the Spirit has been supplanted by individual ingenuity, hard work, and getting ahead through accumulation of more and more.  Basic Christian spirituality is a mere shadow of its former influence.  If we again desire the Spirit of the Lord to rest upon us, we will seek Christ as of foremost importance.  Let this Advent season be a time of renewal as we take the prophecy of Isaiah to heart.
 

 

            Righteous God, you have not forgotten your people.  Thank you for fulfilling all your good promises to us in Christ.  I seek you for everything so that I might do your work and implement your will instead of trusting in my own abilities.  May Jesus be glorified and praised through the work of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Amos 9:8-15

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment


             Doom and hope, judgment and grace, suffering and glory are the movements and rhythm of the Old Testament prophets.  The sins of Israel were not only that they trampled on the poor and needy, but that they saw nothing wrong with their way of life.  Thus, the time was imminent when God would deal with the situation by destroying that way of life and sending the people away to a place where they would have no chance to oppress others.  Death would come to many:  “All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’”
             But God would not completely destroy forever.  Restoration, renewal, and fruitful times will come as a result of God’s free grace toward his people.  “I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them.”  God acts and demonstrates grace because that is what God does.  We often get the notion in our heads that God executes judgment to teach people a lesson or to make a point.  But God acts out of his holiness and his grace.  He maintains his righteous decrees while showing mercy to the undeserving out of his storehouse of grace.  
             Israel deserved only judgment, not grace.  God would have been completely justified to destroy them and never restore or renew them.  Yet, God’s grace overwhelms human sin.  Try and understand grace and you will be befuddled because grace is wildly illogical, nonsensical, and unconditionally free.  Grace shows radical acceptance where there ought to be only hell.  
             The height of grace, the pinnacle of restoring the fortunes of Israel, came through a baby and a humble birth in the small village of Bethlehem.  Jesus came to save the people from their sins.  God acted by entering humanity of his own free love so that there could be new life and fresh hope.  Let grace wash you clean.  Allow mercy to renew your life.  Let worship of the newborn king shape your season and the New Year.
             Gracious God, although you are careful to uphold your great holiness, your mercy extends from everlasting to everlasting.  May the gospel of grace form all of my words and actions so that true righteousness reigns in my life through Jesus, my Lord.  Amen.