Mercy Is Why Jesus Came (Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26)

On June 11, 2023June 11, 2023 By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

*The Hem of His Garment, by Crystal White, 2018*

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners….”

While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.

Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”

Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.

When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. News of this spread through all that region. (New International Version)

The late Abigail Van Buren, better known as the newspaper columnist, “Dear Abby,” was the person who made famous the phrase: “The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum of saints.” That quote is an accurate reflection of what Jesus was doing and saying. We occasionally need words like Dear Abby’s to remind and reorient us toward why the church exists.

The church of the Lord Jesus does not remain on this earth solely for our benefit, any more than a hospital exists for the benefit of the doctors or insurance companies! Rather, the church lives to extend the mission of Jesus through proclamation of good news with the restorative touch of grace. The church’s calling is not to find others who can help them with their giving and attendance. Instead, the church is the community of the redeemed, the temple of the Holy Spirit, gathered and sent to be the continuing presence of Jesus on this earth.

Some of us are not healthy. Some are sick – sick with guilt and shame, heart-sick, or just plain sick-and-tired of being sick-and-tired. Jesus came neither to condemn nor heap a pile of unrealistic expectations on us. Rather, Christ points us to the source of healing and restoration; and invites us to admit our need and come to him.

The question I want us to grapple with is this: Why did Jesus come to this earth? The answer to that question is to also answer the question of our own purpose and existence as followers of Christ.

Jesus came to forgive sin and transform sinners.Forgiveness, healing, and restoration are the three activities which bring about true spiritual and physical healing. There are two healings In today’s Gospel lesson: one is a spiritual healing; and the other a physical healing.

The Calling and Healing of Matthew

At the heart of the human condition is spiritual brokenness. And Jesus is all about taking away guilt and shame, creating a new person and a new community. It’s a radical vision which seeks to encompass and embrace all persons – which means Jesus touched many people overlooked by others.

Jesus came to call the despised people of society, the “sinners.” He called Matthew, a tax collector. Tax collectors were hated. They were corrupt characters who extorted money from innocent people just trying to make ends meet. Jesus not only called the despised Matthew, but he also had dinner with him and all his unsavory buddies. This kind of behavior by Jesus was deeply offensive to the upstanding citizens and religious leaders of the time.

Yet, Jesus did not back down. He responded by saying that it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but those who are sick. And he backed up his social actions with Scripture by encouraging offended folks to meditate on what this biblical phrase means: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” (Hosea 6:6)

It is possible to engage in outward rituals of worship, do all the right things, fulfill our duties, yet still miss the heart of God wants for humanity. Mercy is what God wants. Jesus knew this. So, Christ entangled himself with sinners to bring spiritual healing and restoration.

When Corrie Ten Boom sought to bring deliverance of the Jews from the Nazis during World War II, she had to entangle herself with Jewish refugees. When Christian missionaries seek to be the light of Jesus to people, they must entangle themselves with the people’s culture. If we want to see God deliver people from their situations, we must entangle ourselves with them, into complicated lives that are not pretty, with persons who have been tainted by sin.

Lots of people are in awful predicaments. Christians, like their Lord, will need to get their hands dirty and their feet wet to extend Christ’s ministry of mercy and forgiveness. The gospel was never intended to be proclaimed from afar, but up close and personal through entanglement in people’s lives. If the merciful mission of Jesus is to occur, it requires the following three levels of intimacy with others:

Intimacy with Jesus. Engaging in the spiritual disciplines of prayer, giving, fasting, reading, and meditating on Scripture are the activities which help us to know Christ better and know and how to respond with mercy.
Intimacy with fellow believers. We are hard-wired by God for community. Superficial relationships can only provide superficial community. Christians need to help one another with spiritual growth. They must hold one another accountable for the mission of Christ.
Intimacy with “sinners.” This world is filled with sick, needy, hurt, and lonely, people who are locked in unhealthy patterns of living. They need a merciful change of life that comes from the merciful Jesus acting through merciful Christians.

Mercy, not judgment, is at the heart of all change. If we desire others to be different, we will need to be acquainted with the mercy of God.

The Approach of a Grieving Father and Bleeding Woman for Healing

The dead girl being raised to life and the bleeding woman experiencing healing are, perhaps at the surface, unrelated. Yet, Matthew’s Gospel presents them together in a sandwich story. The dead girl’s father approaches Jesus, and in the middle of the story, while Jesus and the father are on the way to the deceased girl, a woman who had been hemorrhaging for twelve years approaches Jesus without saying a word.

In both cases, the father and the woman exhibited confident faith that their heartfelt desires would be met with Jesus. And, in both situations, two people were restored, not only to health, but to fully functioning members of the community.

And this is where the two of them are related to Matthew. With all three persons, the healings involved a restoration to society. When Jesus heals a person, that person is completely healed – both body and soul – and healed not only of traumatic physical ailments (even death!) but also healed of disordered or demented minds, of deep emotional wounds, and of spiritual neglect and/or abuse.

In the woman’s case, she had to contend with being separated from the community because of her bleeding. She was ritually unclean and could not participate like the others in worship and communal life. And in the case of the father and synagogue ruler with a dead daughter, he would have to put up with not only the severe grief of a lost daughter, but also the misguided cultural beliefs of an untimely death being the result of either the girl’s personal sin, or the sin of the father. Oy.

So, when Jesus heals, Jesus heals completely! It always involves forgiveness (if needed) and a restoration of the individual (and sometimes whole families) back into arms of the society which everyone is dependent upon for each other’s welfare.

And, also like Matthew, Jesus was willing to cut through any cultural barriers and existing societal norms in order to accomplish God’s will and purpose of restoring lost people. I want us to observe that Jesus asks us to follow him because he himself is also willing to do so.

A woman with a bloody discharge and a dead girl’s body were touched by Jesus, who reached across Israel’s purity laws in doing so. Two people who were ritually unclean and not to be touched were given a new lease on life through Christ’s willingness to follow God’s will. Notice that Jesus did not initiate the contact, but followed them in their requests and desires.

Sometimes the church needs to learn the art of following by observing how Christ followed.

Many churches today, including yours and mine, wonder how to draw people in rather than how to engage human beings where they live. Instead of waiting for people to come in, or trying to attract through marketing efforts, perhaps the church should follow our neighbors out into the world, responding to their needs as they emerge.

Maybe, just maybe, we might explore how to participate in what is already going on in the community and follow the leading of the Spirit, who is the continuing presence of Jesus on this earth. Maybe we could put our focus on how to show mercy, not sacrifice.

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross so that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace. Clothe us in your Spirit so that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge of your love, for the glory of your Name. Amen.

A Word of Faith (Genesis 15:1-20)

On June 10, 2023May 16, 2023 By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,
your very great reward.”

But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”

But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”

So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”

Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut them in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, (New International Version)

*Abrahamic Covenant II, by Wayne Forte, 2007*

A Word about Abram and Sarai

We meet Abram and Sarai (later to be known as Abraham and Sarah) as a non-descript couple from a place called Ur of the Chaldees, a few chapters earlier in the opening biblical book of Genesis. It’s noted that Sarai is barren, or childless. (Genesis 11:30)

The Lord decided to choose a people for God’s own name, a singular people to become a kingdom of priest and a holy nation. The idea was that God would bless all the other nations through this one nation.

So, in what becomes something of a divine pattern, God chooses a most unlikely couple (old and childless) to become father and mother of this new nation to bless all other nations on earth. The Lord called them from their country of origin to leave and go to a new place. (Genesis 12:1-3)

Lo and behold, Abram and Sarai did just that. They left all they ever knew and journeyed to the new land, believing the promise of God, even though it didn’t make much sense. And there, they waited for a child, who would become the first of their many descendants, the child of promise.

And they waited. Time passed. They made a few sojourns into Egypt and back. But still no child. More time went by. Abram and Sarai were old when they came to the new land. Now, they’re really old! And still, no child. Then, finally, the Lord broke the silence.

The Word of the Lord

God’s initial words after all this time were, “Don’t be afraid.” We discover that anytime we hear that phrase spoken by the Lord, something good is about to happen. In fact, it’s great news.

But Abram seems discouraged, even with a fresh heart-to-heart with God. He and Sarai are still without a child. Instead of joy over God’s speech, Abram laments the ache of childlessness. Even though, by this time, Abram was wealthy, prosperous, and of good reputation, he feels the sting of a promise yet unfulfilled. God has still not granted him progeny for blessing the world.

A Word of Lament

Lament is, at its core, a complaint – an expression of grief in losing something or someone, or as in Abram’s case, of never having that something or someone to begin with.

It’s actually important for us to essentially make our problems into God’s problems. To tell God about our deepest hurts and unmet hopes is to implicate God in those hurts and hopes. It is to involve God in our disappointment.

In lament, we cry out to God in the belief that the Lord can and will respond to our painful cries and our deep desires. We believe God has the power and ability to respond. To complain to God is to have faith that God is faithful to divine promises—in spite of any nonsensical present circumstances.

Concerning matters about which God has made a promise, to complain is to remind the Lord of those unmet promises. In his lament, Abram was implying that God had not kept the promise, and had not yet proven faithful.

A Word of Response

Far from feeling perturbed that Abram laments instead of rejoices, God, in fact, responds by doubling-down on the original promise. Not only will there be a child, but that child’s descendants will be too many to even begin counting.

The Lord invited Abram to move his head from looking down at the bare ground to looking up at the magnificent stars. And in gazing upon the heavens, listening to the God whom he serves, Abram believed the Lord. And it was this faith which was credited to him as righteousness.

God is okay with being implicated in our problems. In fact, God welcomes it. Our deep grief, and our prayerful complaints, are a way of speaking which reminds God that God has promised to be faithful to divine promises. God doesn’t at all mind being held accountable to promises made.

Then, the Lord further responds by making a tangible expression of the intangible promise by means of a special sacrifice. God instructed Abram to involve some animal sacrifices and arrange them a certain way. When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between the arranged pieces of the sacrifice.

A Covenant Word

On that day, through a ritual observance, God made a covenant with Abram.

To make a covenant in the ancient world, animals were cut in half, and then the persons making the covenantal commitment walked down the middle between the animals.

In Abram’s ritual, however, it was the Lord—in the form of a smoking pot and a flaming torch—who passed down the middle and thus was the one making the promise.

The symbolism of the covenant ritual is this: The one making the promise passes between dead animals as a ritual promise that, if they should be unfaithful to the terms of the covenant, they are to be cut in half just as the sacrificed animal.

In other words, when the Lord passed between the cleaved goat, sheep, ram and birds, God was pledging complete commitment to Abram.

A New Covenant Word

In Christianity, the gospel is a free promise by God that requires the death of God. The promise of God to Abram, Christians believe, ultimately led to the very death of the Son of God, Jesus.

In order to be faithful to the divine promise, to Abraham and Sarah and their descendants, and to David, God took on human flesh, walked between the pieces, and died so that we might have life.

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. (Romans 4:16-17, NIV)

Amen.

Never a Dull Moment (Acts 28:1-10)

On June 9, 2023May 16, 2023 By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Exploring Church Ministry Blog, Year ALeave a comment

*Miracle of St. Paul on the Island of Malta, by David Teniers, c.1620*

Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.” But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days. His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him. When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. They honored us in many ways; and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed. (New International Version)

There never seemed to be a dull moment in the life of the Apostle Paul. Throughout his life, he experienced all sorts of extreme circumstances, having survived as if he had the nine lives of a cat.

Once, when in the town of Lystra, Paul had such an impact on the people through his gift of healing, that the crowd believed he must be one of the gods; and they tried to worship him. But when Paul resisted, and a rival group from another town came along and turned the crowd, Paul was stoned and left for dead by the very people who tried to venerate him. (Acts 14:8-20)

So, it’s almost as if today’s New Testament lesson was just another day at the office for the Apostle Paul. After a suspenseful sea voyage, and then the wreck of a Roman prison ship, the drama of Paul’s life just kept going.

One minute, the people on the island in which Paul was shipwrecked were convinced that he’s a murderer, and the next minute they’re ready to assign him as a god. Nobody I’ve ever known can elicit such opposite reactions in such a short period of time – more than once. But that’s our Apostle Paul for you.

Circumstances are circumstances. But the way in which we interpret them is another thing. Take, for instance, the word “change.” For some, change is a wonderful word which brings thoughts of healing and hope. For others, change is a dirty word to be resisted, conjuring up feelings of fear and anxiety.

For one group, never-a-dull-moment is exciting and adventurous. For another group, never-a-dull-moment is nerve wracking and to be avoided at all costs.

Opposite reactions of a group of people comes from the different perspectives of change they see. It isn’t helpful to talk about who is right and who is wrong; the real trick is in how we choose to look at a thing.

I had only one grandparent when I was growing up. My Grandma was seventy-nine years old when I was born, and she lived to be ninety-seven. Even though I always knew her as an old lady, she had a lot of spunk in all ninety-five pounds of her.

She had an old wooden cutting board in her kitchen. I’m not sure how old it was, but it was likely purchased from Methuselah’s Kitchen Outlet. It was cracked and falling apart. The board had deep furrows in it from the thousands of cuts made on it. Grandma liked her cutting board.

For Mother’s Day one year, my Dad bought her a nice brand new cutting board. And what did my Grandma do? She put the new board in the back of her cupboard and continued using her nasty old cutting board.

Whenever my Mom or sisters were in her house and helped her in the kitchen, they were not about to touch that old board; the thing was a bacteria trap. But Grandma didn’t care about bacteria or that it was falling apart.

My Dad asked her why she did not use her new cutting board. She simply answered, “Oh, it’s much too nice to use.” But we all knew that was Grandma’s way of saying that she liked her nasty old cutting board, didn’t think it was all that bad, and wasn’t getting rid of it.

It seems we all have a bit of Grandma in us, bless her stubborn old heart. We like the way they do things, and really don’t see what another person sees. We don’t see that no one else has an emotional attachment to our cutting board. Sometimes we don’t realize how overwhelming and even intimidating our ways can be for someone else.

Just imagine being in a new place with people you don’t know. Are you nervous? Does it help to have someone you know bring you and introduce you to people? Is it beneficial to have someone let you know what is happening and what is going on?

Many years ago, I remember walking into a beautiful new church building, sitting down, and seeing a huge old pulpit that was literally falling apart. Since I’ve been around a lot of churches, I quickly discerned it was likely the old pulpit from the old church building. And, I discovered, it was. But, honestly, I had zero emotional attachment to that pulpit, and it was a distraction because it just looked like a big old ratty collar on a new puppy.

The point is this: Our view of change – whether to do it, or not, to embrace or resist – must be motivated by a solid set of values and a worthy purpose.

Paul put up with a lot, experienced a lot, and never had a dull moment. And he did it without bellyaching. That’s because he was continually focused on his ultimate purpose and values.

Our purpose, like Paul’s, is the Great Commission, to make disciples. (Matthew 28:18-20)

Our values, likewise, are the Great Commandment, to love God and neighbor. (Matthew 22:36-40)

Since our purpose is disciple-making, then we are always to make decisions based upon that standard. Since our values are loving others, then we always know how to go about our purpose.

If any faith community is helping people grow spiritually, then there is no need to change. But if a Christian community has not seen a person come to faith in Christ in the last year, that’s a significant reason to change. If a church has not seen anyone come to Christ in the last five years, then that church is eating meat prepared on a cutting board full of bacteria, and it’s making everyone sick.

Have we taken the old cutting board for granted, and just expect other people to use it if they are in our kitchen? Or do we have a vision, a motivation, and a driving desire to see all sorts of people find new life in Jesus Christ?

If you don’t like empty seats, or the way things are, then the biblical solution is to change – specifically to change practices, speech, and daily behavior to reach others with the good news of grace. Change, or the lack thereof, for any other reason, is a bad reason to change.

Just so you know, after about a year of sitting in my Grandma’s cupboard, my Dad took out the new cutting board, put it on the kitchen counter and threw away the old board.

It was about time. Never a dull moment with Grandma around.

Gracious God, we thank you that in love and mercy, you reached out to us. When we were dead in our sins, you sent Jesus to die in our place. Thank you that he humbled himself, even to death on a cross. And thank you that you have a heart that seeks the lost.

Merciful Lord, please give us hearts that care for people in darkness. Teach us to care for them as you do. Thank you for including us in the mission of reaching other people for your name. Grow us to care for humanity, for the people who haven’t yet come to know and trust in you. Amen.

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

On June 8, 2023May 14, 2023 By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

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.

Rev. Tim Ehrhardt

Category: Daily Bible Reading Blog