Category: Year C

Matthew 23:37-24:14

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Hear what the Lord Jesus said as he entered Jerusalem and faced the ignominy of the cross:  “Jerusalem! Jerusalem!  Your people have killed the prophets and have stoned the messengers who were sent to you.  I have often wanted to gather your people, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.  But you wouldn’t let me” (CEV).  Jesus went on to predict his death and what would be coming with stubborn Jerusalem’s refusal to see the hand of God.  To understand Christ’s cry of love for the city, one must be reminded that this came off a scathing rebuke of a distorted religion that was in vogue at the time.  Jesus saw the current state of worship, found it to be terribly wanting, and saw ahead to its ultimate demise.
 
            Jesus did not just pronounce woe and walk away disgusted.  No, instead, our Lord broke into a tear-filled, heart-wrenching love song for his wayward people.  Jesus blasted the establishment because of his deep concern for all people to know the true worship of God and find their ultimate purpose and meaning in him.
 
            Any religious fool can rant-on about the ills of the world, ungodly persons, and defective institutions.  But it takes a person with the heart of Jesus to weep over it all and follow him into suffering on behalf of others so that they might come to the peaceable kingdom of righteousness.  If we are not completely undone over the sin of the world, we are in no position to rant about anything because grace and mercy is the currency of God’s economy.  Let us repent like we mean it, pray as if our lives depended on it, and tell others of Jesus like there is no tomorrow.
 

 

            Loving Lord Jesus, oh, let me have your zeal for God’s house and your heart for lost people!  Change my heart, O God, and let it reflect your grace and truth in everything I say and do; through Christ my Savior, who with you and the Holy Spirit reign forever and ever.  Amen.

Isaiah 59:15-21

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            The “bystander effect,” or “bystander apathy,” is a social psychology term that refers to cases in which individuals do not offer any means of help to a victim when other people are present. In other words, in experiment after experiment over the past fifty years social psychologists have found that the greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is that any one of them will help.  For example, researchers Bibb Latané and Judith Rodin staged an experiment in 1969 around a woman in distress. Seventy-percent of the people who were alone called out or went to help the woman after they believed she had fallen and was hurt, but when there were other people in the room only forty-percent offered help.
 
            It’s far too easy to stand with our hands our pockets when there are other people around to serve and to do what is just.  “When the LORD noticed that justice had disappeared, he became very displeased.  It disgusted him even more to learn that no one would do a thing about it.”  Our rationalizations for not becoming involved are legion:  “Someone else better qualified than me will do it.”  “But what if I screw up?”  And the ever-present “I’m just too busy” are all ways to justify ourselves into not doing the work of justice in the world.
 
            If we are apathetic to the needs of others less privileged than ourselves, then we must come back to the Old Testament prophets and give them a very serious hearing.  The prophet Isaiah lets us know that none of us are anonymous; we have all been given gifts as the people of God in order to serve the greater good.  The Lord dispenses his grace and glory primarily through active people who eschew being bystanders in the world.  God inevitably gets noticed in the public square when his people are attentive to his justice.
 

 

            Just God, you care about the people of this world receiving the things they need to live and flourish well in life.  Inspire and empower all of your people, including me, to spread a spirit of service in our local communities and churches, through Jesus Christ our Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Isaiah 59:1-15

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


            “Truth stumbles in the public square.”  That is the prophet Isaiah’s summary phrase of ancient Israel’s moral situation.  He wrote to a post-exile community that was still reeling from losing their land and finding their way among the rule of others.  They were not a free people – by a long shot.  And their deliverance from Gentile dominance was not coming anytime soon, for a reason.  They still had not really dealt with their own problems.  They wanted salvation without confession, and freedom without repentance.  But Isaiah reminded them that their separation from God was a result of their violence, deceitfulness, and corrupt system of justice.  The Jews were neither pursuing peace, nor the common good.  There would be no deliverance apart from facing those sins and renouncing them.
             Without a virtuous citizenry, truth stumbles in the public square.  That is, if national morality and personal ethics are absent, truth erodes and any system of laws and justice devolve into a morass of selfish agendas and lack of concern for all persons.  People might haggle and disagree on what is the best way forward for a given nation, but if they do not begin with the foundation of truth and virtue, then violence is the ultimate outcome because people want what they want and do not give a damn about anything else.  They will kill and covet, but they will not get what they want since their motives are unethical and immoral.
             This is why the spiritual tools of prayer and fasting, confession and repentance, faith and public moral action must be the underlying conscience of a nation.  Without virtue, truth may stumble but will always be present to speak to power.  Government is designed as an institution to promote the common good of all citizens.  If divine intervention is necessary, the proper course of action is acknowledgment of transgressions.  
             Sovereign God, you are the invisible ruler among the nations.  Our sins are many and they bear witness against us that sound judgment has left the room.  Christ, have mercy upon us, and grant us your peace through the blessed Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Isaiah 57:14-21

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Our God is the ultimate expert on helping the helpless, giving hope to the hopeless, and healing the broken.  In this American post-election season, many, even throughout the world, have either great anxiety or great relief; they are in either in a terrible funk, or are quietly in jubilation.  But from whatever emotional place we find ourselves today, Scripture always has something to say to us that is relevant and real. 
 
            The Old Testament prophets give a word from God.  It is a word that is full of judgment, but laced with grace; it reveals a hard road, but assures that the road will be made level and passable.  Today let the words of Isaiah penetrate your weary soul, and let this word from the Lord become internalized as a steady ballast for your ever-swinging feelings:
 
14 God says, “Rebuild the road!
Clear away the rocks and stones
so my people can return from captivity.”
15 The high and lofty one who lives in eternity,
the Holy One, says this:
“I live in the high and holy place
with those whose spirits are contrite and humble.
I restore the crushed spirit of the humble
and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.
16 For I will not fight against you forever;
I will not always be angry.
If I were, all people would pass away—
all the souls I have made.
17 I was angry,
so I punished these greedy people.
I withdrew from them,
but they kept going on their own stubborn way.
18 I have seen what they do,
but I will heal them anyway!
I will lead them.
I will comfort those who mourn,
19     bringing words of praise to their lips.
May they have abundant peace, both near and far,”
says the Lord, who heals them.
20 “But those who still reject me are like the restless sea,
which is never still
but continually churns up mud and dirt.
21 There is no peace for the wicked,”
says my God. (New Living Translation)
 

 

            Lord God Almighty, I trust you to save me.  Then, I will not be afraid.  My strength comes from you.  I will celebrate your greatness because you are here to help me through Jesus Christ my Lord, in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.