Category: Year B

Job 19:23-27 – Christ’s Journey is My Journey

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
“I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that at the last he will stand upon the earth.” (New Revised Standard Version)
“I know that my redeemer is alive
and afterward he’ll rise upon the dust.” (Common English Bible)
 
            I’m going to let you in on the reasons why I observe the Church Calendar each year with it’s observance of the major Christian seasons.  First, it is a way for me to know Jesus better.  The Year is thoroughly centered around the person and work of Christ.  Much like the seasons of Spring and Fall, I look forward to entering a new season and discovering the beauty of my Lord in a fresh way.
            Second, observing the Christian Year reorients my use of time.  Rather than think of time in secular terms or as my time, I submit to time that is dictated by attention to Jesus.  Finally, moving through the Year is a journey with Jesus – his journey is my journey.
            All of Christ’s life was an act of redemption for us.  His redemptive events of incarnation, holy life and teaching, death, resurrection, ascension, and glorification demonstrate that he is my Redeemer.  What’s more, I enjoy a union with Jesus, an intimate connection which is so close that his journey is my journey.  Christ identified with me in his life on this earth.  He took on the death which should have been mine.  He rose from death, ascended to heaven, and was glorified as King of all.
            I know that my Redeemer lives because I have walked with him.  I, too, just like my Savior, will someday rise from death, ascend with him, and reign with him forever.  He has made it all possible, and that is why I enter the Christian Year time and time again with expectancy, faith, and hope.
            When the sign of the cross is made on the forehead with ash on Ash Wednesday (the beginning of Lent) this is more than a reminder of my mortality.  It is full of meaning and imbibed with hope.  Yes, I am dust and I will return to dust.  But that dust will rise again and live with Jesus forever.

 

Merciful Lord and Savior, you lived the life on this earth which I could not in my weakness and shortcoming.  Through the gift of faith, I have an inheritance and a hope that someday I will be with you forever.  Thank you for your abundant grace and the constant reminders throughout the Year that you are with me – your journey is my journey.  Amen.

Hebrews 2:1-4 – Learning to Pay Attention

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
“We must give our full attention to what we were told, so that we won’t drift away.” (CEV)
 
            My three girls all have attention deficit disorder (A.D.D.).  You might think this is a disadvantage.  Rather, since the biology of their brain doesn’t have a good filter for sifting out all the stimuli they hear each day, each of them are much more intentional about picking out the voice they want to hear and engaging with it.  Whereas you and I might take this for granted, my girls know the value of creating the skills to pay attention.
            We stand at the cusp of Lent, just two days from now.  A healthy way of looking at this important season in the Christian Year is that it is a time to listen.  It’s the opportunity and privilege of giving our complete attention to Jesus as we plod along the 40-day path to Easter.  And we need to develop some solid skills in paying attention, whether we have A.D.D. or not.
            The cost of not developing such skills is that we will drift away.  Taking for granted that we are Christians, that we know something about salvation, and are basically good people might only be setting us up for spiritual failure. That is, we think we already know about Christ’s person and work of salvation, so we don’t really pay attention.  Bad idea.
            Assuming we are paying attention is not the same thing as actually doing it.
Assumptions lead to drifting away from truth.  We are meant to have continual and constant reminders of Christ and his redemptive events.  This is what Lent intends for us.  To ignore the wisdom of two-thousand years of church practice puts us in a precarious position of being lost in a sea of competing voices.
            For the next six weeks, make the choice that you will pay attention to Christ each day through:
·         Reading the Scripture every day with a combination of standing and sitting, reading silently and out loud.
·         Holding a cross or other Christian reminder in your hand and feel free to fidget with it.
·         Journaling your thoughts in a notebook.
·         Imposing a time limit on yourself each day for the next 40 days.
·         Using different versions of the Bible to read throughout Lent.
·         Going outside occasionally and praying while walking.
·         Focusing on your breathing. Breathe out: “Speak Lord.” Breathe in: “I am listening.”
·         Drinking some coffee, tea, or something soothing.
·         Being mindful of distractions and acknowledging them without judging yourself.
The point is to have an intentional plan for paying attention.  Don’t assume you’ll just be focused.

 

May your journey with Jesus this season be a fresh experience in knowing him better.

Mark 9:2-9 – Listen to Jesus

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
“This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him.” 
 
            Today on the Christian Calendar is Transfiguration Sunday.  Each year it occurs the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent.  This is significant because the season of Lent (the 40 days leading to Easter) more than any other season in the Year is meant to for us to listen well.
            Jesus took three of his disciples up a mountain, secluded from all else, and he revealed to them his glory.  Moses and Elijah showed up to join in the awe of the event, two of the most influential men of the Old Testament.  This was all designed to draw attention to Jesus.  Everything which was given in the past, what is happening in the present, and what will be in the future all focuses on the mid-point of history: Jesus, who is Lord and Savior.
            What’s more, Father God’s voice speaks into the glorious event.  His instruction was clear and succinct.  Listen to Jesus.   Listen to Jesus.  This is to be our assignment and our posture for the next six weeks.  You and I are to be intentional about breaking away from our life in the valley, ascend the mountain with Jesus in solitude, and get a glimpse of his glory.  Like a mother who puts her hands to her busy two-year old’s face to get his attention, God is speaking to us, if we will but listen.
            To be fully in the moment, having an open mind and heart to Jesus requires some solitude and silence. Having both a consistent time and place to ascend the mountain, meet with Jesus, and listen to him is most necessary for you and me.  Our minds are too distracted without the firm decision to guard a time and place to listen well to Jesus.  Where and when we meet with Jesus might have options, but, for the Christian, it is not an option whether we listen to Jesus, or not.
            Whatever it takes, yes, I’ll say it again, whatever it takes to meet with Jesus so that we can listen well to him is our spiritual occupation for the next 40 days.
            Where is the mountain? When will you ascend it? What posture will you take to listen well to Jesus? Will you be silent?
            Put some thought into those questions today and develop a plan.  Then, you’ll put yourself in a position to encounter Jesus.

 

Glorious Lord Jesus, the entire universe bends and bows to your will.  Help me, especially in these next weeks, to listen well to your words so that I may follow your ways in all I say and do; to your honor and glory.  Amen.

Luke 19:41-44 – The Lament of Jesus

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
“As Jesus came to the city and observed it, he wept over it.  He said, ‘If only you knew on this of all days the things that lead to peace. But now they are hidden from your eyes.  The time will come when your enemies will build fortifications around you, encircle you, and attack you from all sides.  They will crush you completely, you and the people within you. They won’t leave one stone on top of another within you, because you didn’t recognize the time of your gracious visit from God.’” (CEB)
 
            There are Christians who believe in as much withdrawal from the world with its earthly political and cultural realm as is humanly possible this side of heaven.  There are yet others who believe in as much accommodation as possible to the world in it’s structures and society.  And, there are others who believe that the two, the world and the church, are simply two distinct realms which Christians simply move back and forth within, like taking one hat off and doffing another.
            Let’s leave that all aside for a moment and just observe the pathos of Jesus.  He came to the city of Jerusalem, a city which was both very religious and very worldly.  Jesus stood and looked affectionately and longingly at the city… and he wept.  This was not a quiet shedding of a tear.  No, the word “wept” means that Jesus openly cried aloud over the city.  Think of the kind of crying which takes place when a person is in the throes of grief.  These were great heaves of loud weeping.
            The reason Jesus was lamenting with so much feeling was that the city did not recognize they had a gracious visit from God.  The Lord looked at the city and saw all the future disaster which was coming.  He knew that it could be different, and he was emotionally undone by the city’s inability to see God right in front of their own face.
            Now let’s return to our view of the world and our involvement in it.  Taking some cues from our Lord Jesus, the first and foremost posture we are to take toward the worldly city is not separation, accommodation, or dual citizenship – it is, rather, to grieve and lament.
            The longing Jesus had in his heart was to see the city of Jerusalem annexed and incorporated into the kingdom of God.  The way of peace, of shalom on this earth, is to bring all things and all the world under the benevolent reign of God.  It is as if there are Twin Cities, like Minneapolis and St. Paul, who exist side-by-side but have different municipal structures.  The kingdom of this world and the kingdom of God exist next to each other.  Jesus wanted to bring the earthly kingdom into the peaceful and gracious realm of God’s kingdom.  But the people would have nothing to do with it.  Both the religious and the secular persons of the city wanted their own municipal conceptions of how things should go – and they both rejected the Christ who could bring them all true harmony.
            We are about to enter the season of Lent.  It is a time set aside in the Christian Year for repentance and preparation to receive King Jesus as our rightful benevolent ruler.  Let us lament the world full of both religious and secular people who do not recognize the time of God’s visitation.  Let it be a time to journey with Jesus and follow him in his Passion for this world and all its inhabitants.

 

Blessed Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the holy Trinity whom I serve – the world and even sometimes the church is estranged from grace – they have not recognized your gracious coming and presence.  I lament such a state of things, and ask that you, blessed Spirit may draw all people to the Savior, Jesus Christ, in whose name I pray.  Amen.