Category: Daily Bible Reading Blog

A blog following the daily readings from the Revised Common Lectionary.

Psalm 26

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Although we are several millennia removed from the Old Testament world, we still share a great deal of solidarity with our believing brothers and sisters throughout the ages.  Times may change, yet the basic nature of people remains the same.  Evil is still evil; and, integrity has permanence.  Maybe because I am a pastor, I see the inner workings of sin more than the average Joe.  And I will say that evil still exists, and it is every bit as ugly as it was in biblical times.
             Followers of Jesus throughout the world still stare into the face of wickedness, and of those who would seek to do them harm.  Even in this enlightened age, in this modern Western world I live in, there are those who twist the truth, and try to bend every circumstance to their own advantage, not caring whom they damage in the process.  If you know this to be true, and you are or have experienced the slanderous breathings of devious persons, then Psalm 26 is for you, my friend.
             Although the psalmist had to endure situations he did not deserve, his response was twofold:  he was determined to walk with integrity, no matter what others might do or say to him; and, the psalmist left room for God to work instead of paying back evil for evil.  It would be good to pray along with this psalm, “Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering….  As for me, I shall walk in my integrity:  redeem me, and be gracious to me.”
             The lectionary repeats the same psalm every three days, every week, for a reason – to encourage us to pray biblical prayers that allow truth and sound theology to permeate our spirits and sink deep into our needy souls.  And those prayers are perhaps most needed when we are undergoing the adversity of human evil.
             O Lord God Almighty, prove me and try me; test my heart and my mind.  Your steadfast love is before my eyes and I walk in your faithfulness.  Do not sweep my soul away with sinners.  Be gracious, merciful, and kind to me today and always for the sake of Jesus Christ, your only Son.  Amen.

Galatians 3:23-29

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            If you are new to this blog, or to the Revised Common Lectionary, or just need a reminder, here is a very small explanation of how it works.  The Lectionary is one way of reading through the Bible in a three year cycle (known as Years A, B, and C).  The daily readings of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday all anticipate the Scripture texts for Sunday; and, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday readings all reflect back on the previous Sunday.  And each year is attentive to the major events of the life of Christ and of the church.
 
            So, today’s New Testament text looks forward to World Communion Sunday, a day in which we intentionally celebrate the truth that we as individuals and local congregations belong to a much bigger Body of Christ – Christians from different cultures and nations all share Jesus together, symbolized and remembered through our common eating from the Lord’s Table. 
 
            The Apostle Paul needed to give the Galatian churches some remedial teaching on the basic nature of God’s gospel of grace in Christ.  The Gentile believers had begun to buy-in to the notion that they needed to become Jews in order to really be Christians.  Paul would have nothing to do with it because it betrayed the nature of the gospel that in Christ all are one new society, and not old Israel.  “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
 
            The gospel of grace is the great equalizer.  In Christ, God has created a new society in which all come together by faith.  That means people do not need to become Jewish to become a Christian; it also means that no one needs to become an American or any other type of person in order to truly belong to Christ.  The gospel of grace means we are not to only be around people who are just like us, looking for others to conform to us.  It means we appreciate and embrace the wonderful variety of people of all races, classes, ethnicities, gender, and cultures without demanding they be just like us.  In Christ, we are all one new society, one gospel culture celebrating and enjoying Jesus.  It would be poignant for us all to remember this wonderful reality when we approach the Table this Sunday.
 

 

            Gracious God, you established the church as a new egalitarian society through your Son, the Lord Jesus.  Help me to connect meaningfully with others very different from myself so that grace will be my only rule for life.  Amen.

Matthew 18:6-9

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            A universal truism of this world is that sin exists.  Greed, envy, gluttony, sloth, anger, lust, and pride abound no matter where one goes on this planet.  And it is terrible.  Sin causes people to stumble, and, when unchecked, leads to personal and corporate destruction.  When sin is viewed as merely a character flaw, or simply part of the fabric of organizations and institutions, then hellfire is not far off.  Hell exists because of sin. 
 
            Jesus took sin quite serious.  He considers sin so awful that he used the height of hyperbole to communicate that radical, drastic, decisive action must be taken unequivocally to get rid of it.  Our Lord wanted there to be no mistake in his communication:  sin is not something to dabble in or take a shallow approach; sin must be eradicated at all costs.  The language is severe:  if your hand, foot, or eye causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better to enter life crippled or blind rather than be thrown into hell.
 
            Temptations will come.  What we do with them is of eternal significance.  We must get to the root of the sin, which is succumbing to temptation, and re-arrange our lives or alter our schedules in a radical way in order to remove putting ourselves in a position to sin.  Solid daily spiritual habits of Scripture reading and prayer; time for sleep and rest; attention to Sabbath; and, a regular exercise regimen are all ways to help ensure that temptation will not win the day.
            Holy God, you sent your Son to this earth to deal decisively with the world’s sin.  I choose today to walk in the forgiveness you offer through Jesus, and to avail myself of the Spirit’s power to forsake temptation in all its forms.  Amen.

1 John 2:18-25

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            In the past several centuries of Christian history there have been certain groups that have advanced various individuals as being the “antichrist.”  Attempting to identify a particular antichrist comes from a theological disposition that believes that a certain antichrist is the first link of a chain of end-times events.  Typically, a ruthless or dictatorial ruler, like Mussolini, Hitler, or Stalin receives the label of “antichrist.”  For some Protestants, the papacy continually gets set apart as being the antichrist.  As recently as a few days ago, Pope Francis received the dubious title from a group of end-times watchers because they claimed he allowed people to treat him as if he were Jesus, accepting worship and praise.
 
            But the term “antichrist” has not typically been used as a title for one person setting-off a bomb of world-ending trauma.  The earliest church, following the teaching of the Apostle John, understood antichrist not as an individual, but a class of people who deny that Jesus is the Christ.  Indeed, John plainly said the antichrist is anyone who forsakes the Father and the Son.  What is so disturbing about John’s talk of antichrist is that these persons arise from within the church, not outside of it.
 
            It has become much too vogue in some circles of Christian evangelicalism to identify and label enemies outside their small groups, leading to a xenophobic attitude of distrust and finger-pointing of all kinds of people.  The fingers, however, must first be directed within our own house.  It behooves us all to take up the instruction of John:  “Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you.  If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.”  In other words, embrace the basic cardinal truth given to you.  Then you will not be deceived by anyone coming along denying the fundamental reality of God.
 
            It is the last hour – but not because of some politician, tyrant, or even religious figure.  It is the last hour because Jesus has accomplished redemption for us, and the only event left is the return of Jesus to judge the living and the dead.  Therefore we must all live with the possibility and tension that it could be today, and be prepared through proclaiming Jesus in all we say and do.
            Mighty God, you sent the Son to this earth to fulfill all your good promises.  Let me embrace Jesus so fully and completely that the truth of his reality comes pouring out of me in every area of my life.  In his name I pray.  Amen.