Category: Year B

Matthew 4:1-11

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Let’s think about the season of Lent for a moment.  It is not a time for unhealthy introspection that seeks to rally all our willpower in order to have success over temptation and sin, thus proving how either strong or weak we are.  Lent is, however, an opportunity to give a forty day focus to the truth that overcoming temptation and achieving victory does not come from within, but only through Jesus.  In other words, no one can earn a right standing or even right feelings or right behavior – I must have the grace of Christ’s cross.
 
            Satan’s sly temptations were, at their core, attempts to try and get Jesus to circumvent the cross.  Satan wanted to see Jesus bring in God’s kingdom by another means, thereby destroying the kingdom all together.  An appeal to miracles for personal gain; popularity; accolades and recognition; proper branding of the Jesus phenomena; and, of course, avoiding the suffering of the cross completely were all ways of subtly trying to get Jesus to veer off the path toward the cross.
 
            We all desperately need to rely solely, completely, and totally on the grace of God in Christ through the cross.  Any attempts to seek holiness in our own ability to perform will only result in shame for not measuring up.  The greatest temptation of all is the belief that the cross is not enough; I must myself supplement the work of Christ with my own effort, ability, and willpower.  The true work of Lent is having all that useless striving broken down and done away with, so that the cleansing and healing of the cross will do the real work.  We are, then, set up for the pinnacle of Easter and new life.
            Gracious God, thank you for sending you Son, the Lord Jesus, to endure the cross.  I choose today to get off the performance treadmill and receive your grace as my only sure hope and salvation.  Amen.

1 Peter 3:8-18a

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Sometimes people say things that are uncaring, insensitive, and even downright stupid – things that do not reflect the gospel of grace.  Indeed, there is enough sinfulness to go around no matter where you go.
 
            The Apostle Peter gave some practical commands to occupy us in the midst of troubling speech and actions that people say and do.  Rather than responding in kind by verbally decapitating another person, either to their face or behind their back, we are to “have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.”  Peter sums it up by saying, “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called.”
 
            If we ever wonder or struggle with what God is calling us to, it is clear as a bell in this Scripture.  Grace is our business, and we are not to respond ungraciously to others’ lack of mercy.  If we put our focus on blessing others with these practices, no matter who they are, we will set ourselves apart as people who follow the way of Jesus.  And make no mistake about it:  the way of Jesus is the way of suffering grace.  It does not mean keeping silent; it means actively blessing through a tender heart and a humble mind.
 
            Humility is the cornerstone of all other biblical virtues.  Every Christian must be ready to accept the things that are not within his/her control, and then respond humbly with love.  If this sounds wishy-washy to you, then I would say you have never even tried it because it takes a courageous strength of faith to put into practice a spirit of meekness.  To this we are called.
            Gracious God, who sent Jesus to humbly suffer for my sins, engraft your humility in me so that I might respond with love in thought, word, and deed to every person and circumstance in my life.  Amen.

Job 4:1-21

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            The Christian spiritual classic, The Dark Night of the Soul, was written nearly five hundred years ago by St. John of the Cross.  The basic gist of John’s observation is that God sometimes takes the Christian through dry times of hiding himself from the believer.  The pain of wondering where God is; having no answers to prayer; enduring uncaring and misdirected comments from well-meaning people; all these and more are inevitably part of the Christian spiritual experience.  The dark night of the soul is not to be confused with personal sinfulness.  Its origin is not in self, but God.  When one knows that personal integrity is intact, but trouble abounds, we need not immediately rush to the conclusion that something is wrong with us.  It may be the Spirit tossing us into a desert experience in order to test and approve our faith.
 
            Job’s “friend” Eliphaz offered one of those age-old arguments that bad things happen to bad people.  He asks:  “Who that was innocent ever perished?  Where were the upright cut off?”  His conclusion is: “those who plow iniquity reap the same.”  Certainly, Eliphaz thinks, Job cannot possibly go through such terrible suffering without having done something to anger God.
 
            Today the same notions still endure.  If I had a quarter for every time I heard comments like these I would be a rich man:  “he is poor because he is lazy;” “she has chronic health issues because God is punishing her;” “you are not healed because of your lack of faith;” “they did something evil to be in such trouble;” and on and on the wrong-headed statements continue, ad nauseum.
 
            The Apostle Peter understood how to view trouble in a healthy way:  “It is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.  For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:17-18).  Jesus suffered; so will the Christian.  There is a big picture that only God sees.  When we suffer, there is something going on behind the spiritual scene.  We must allow God to do his work and trust him for all things.
            Lord God, I entrust myself to you because you know what you are doing.  Thank you for the trials of life which humbles my heart to pray.  Do your work in me so that my faith is fortified for a lifetime of service in the church and the world, through Jesus Christ, my Lord.  Amen.

Daniel 9:15-25a

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
          Today’s Old Testament reading continues Daniel’s prayer of confession from yesterday.  Reading through this prayer is like having a privileged glimpse into one of the most beloved persons in all of Scripture by God.  Indeed, while Daniel was praying the angel Gabriel came and communicated to him that “you are greatly loved.”  Daniel’s prayer is at the same time grand and majestic, yet humble and simple.  It would be a worthy activity to take this prayer and write one’s own confession based upon it.
             Too many times in our lives we feel the misguided notion to hide our sin.  We want to look good to others, so we take pains to make the outward appearance godly and attractive.  We may be careful in only letting another see our good side.  We might even do this with God by failing to pray and confess sin.  In doing so, we inevitably neglect the vast interior life.  But Daniel was greatly loved not because he had it all together, but because he was sensitive to sin and was courageous to bring it before God.
             It is easy to have delusions of grandeur about doing great things for God and being a leader among God’s people.  The hard work is one of prayer, particularly confession.  And the consequences of sin are not always magically erased.  But the mercy of God becomes operative and guides us into truth and grace toward ourselves and others.
             Merciful God, listen to my plea for the gospel of grace to take root in my inner self.  Incline your ear to listen to me and grant me forgiveness that leads to new life in Christ in order that I might stand in the gap and intercede for others.  Be gracious to your church and bring healing to all wounded by her neglect of mercy.  Amen.