Category: Year C

Psalm 5

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


             The God whom Christians serve is not a god who delights in evil.  In fact, God hates evil with a passion.  This is a good thing.  The Lord is most certainly the God of grace.  But mercy has no meaning unless there is sin.  God’s justice is an extension of his mercy.  In today’s psalm, the psalmist laments the evil of the world and finds solace in the righteousness of God.  In a world where rapists get a slap on the wrist, terrorists are found all around the globe, and politicians run amok with people’s approval, I am more than glad that God does not contend with evil and that I can find refuge in him from all the massive crud of the world.
             Notice the pervasiveness of evil:  “For there is no sincerity in their mouth; their heart is corrupt.  Their throat is an open grave; on their tongue are subtle lies.”  It is not a stretch to say that we have an egregious situation in the two leading political candidates in America; they could well be characterized by this description from the psalmist.  It is even more lamentable that far too many church members have mouth, heart, throat, and tongue issues that damage the Body of Christ.
             What to do about it?  Rely on the justice and mercy of God.  “Declare them guilty, God; make them fall by their own devices.  Drive them out for their many sins; for they have rebelled against you.”  Trust in not just a nice idea; committed belief in God is absolutely necessary for life, spiritual health, and peace in this fallen world.  We can all do our part by living a humble penitent life, attuned to the holy God who will not put up with evil forever.
             Just God, you know the hearts and tongues of every person on planet earth.  Holy God, either save them by grace or take them away so that righteousness might dwell in every corner of your creation.  Amen.

James 4:1-7

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            “Do you know where your fights and arguments come from? They come from the selfish desires that war within you. 2 You want things, but you do not have them. So you are ready to kill and are jealous of other people, but you still cannot get what you want. So you argue and fight. You do not get what you want, because you do not ask God. 3 Or when you ask, you do not receive because the reason you ask is wrong. You want things so you can use them for your own pleasures.  4 So, you are not loyal to God! You should know that loving the world is the same as hating God. Anyone who wants to be a friend of the world becomes God’s enemy. 5 Do you think the Scripture means nothing that says, ‘The Spirit that God made to live in us wants us for himself alone’? 6 But God gives us even more grace, as the Scripture says,
‘God is against the proud,
but he gives grace to the humble.’ Proverbs 3:34
7 So give yourselves completely to God. Stand against the devil, and the devil will run from you” (NCV).
 
            There is a lot that can be unpacked here in these practical verses filled with dense meaning for our lives.  But a simple observation will suffice for today:  Prayer to God requires humility.
 
            The person who is captain of his own soul, moves and shakes the circumstances around him, controls and manipulates people, and who throws tantrums and verbally decapitates others to get his way sees himself as the way to get what he wants.  God only comes into the picture if he cannot seem to take for himself what he so desires.  Prayer is the last ditch attempt to control God.  And God will have none of it.
 
            All things must begin with prayer, be sustained by prayer, and end with prayer.  If we ask anything in the name of Jesus, it will be heard by God and answered by him.  God is God, and I am not.  Therefore, I must come to him with this understanding, with the humility to recognize that I desperately need him for everything.  Take some extended time today and meditate on these verses, letting prayers arise to God as a result.  For in the weakness of our surrender we find the strength of life.
 

 

            Holy God, you cannot abide with the ways of this fallen world.  Help me to connect with you on your terms in your way so that my faith might be active and effective in all I do for the sake of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Luke 8:40-56

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Today’s Gospel lesson is a classic story of Christ healing a chronically ill woman of her suffering, and raising a deal girl back to life.  This is Jesus the Healer and Miracle Worker doing what he does so well – bringing new life to people.  What these accounts have in common with all of the other chronicles of Christ’s miracles is that they occur with Jesus as the object of faith.  It isn’t about the level of people’s faith, but about where that faith is placed.  Faith itself means nothing if it isn’t in Jesus.  Only Jesus can do the miraculous of healing, transforming, and saving people.
 
            In each healing narrative, the person’s need and desperation (poverty of spirit) were the necessary first steps on the road of faith.  Faith always begins with the acknowledgment of need.  You and I need Jesus.  If Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, he will do it.  If Jesus came to change lives, he will accomplish it.  If Jesus is the living Lord of the church, he will hear your humble and heartfelt petition.  So, pray!
 
            Come to Jesus, and pray.  Pray without ceasing.  Pray for your children, your friends, your neighbors, and your co-workers.  Pray for healing, and pray for deliverance.  I know there are people and situations in which it seems there is no hope, or that nothing will ever be different.  But Jesus is trustworthy, and he always keeps true to his mission.  All who come to Jesus receive a changed life – and that is what I bank on.
 

 

            Surprising God, you do amazing things in people’s lives.  You specialize in the impossible.  Work in my life to make me holy and set apart for you, to be a conduit of blessing to others here on earth until Jesus comes again.  Amen.

Galatians 2:11-14

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            “When Peter came to Antioch, I told him face to face that he was wrong… I corrected Peter in front of everyone.”  The Apostle Paul confronted the Apostle Peter on a matter of hypocrisy.  This was not just any run-of-the-mill hypocrisy.  What Peter was doing was totally out of sync with the gospel that they both proclaimed:  that forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ is for all people, Jew and Gentile, whom both together make up Christ’s Church.  Out of fear of his fellow Jews, Peter began withdrawing from his Gentile brothers in Christ.  That stinking fear will get us every time.  At the heart of every hypocrite is a spirit of fear that keeps him/her in bondage to the wishes of others.
 
            Whereas Peter was deepening into the world of learned helplessness and terminal niceness, Paul chose to operate in the world of seeing all things through the lenses of the gospel and confronting that which had nothing to do with it.  Please note that Paul rebuked Peter, and not every single person who came along who didn’t agree with him.  They were both part of the apostles’ fraternity, and each had both a right and responsibility to confront and rebuke when needed within that fellowship.
 
            I live in Mid-West America.  We, like Peter, suffer from the malady of sometimes being too nice for our own good.  If we aren’t careful, we can be pleasant and affable to people to their face, but then turn around and speak ugly words and do our own thing behind someone’s back.  Our hypocrisy is born of the fear that we might hurt someone’s feelings.  But we need to grab ahold of the fact that our hypocrisy hurts God’s feelings, and he will call us to account for our fearful ways.  God does not want us hiding our true feelings, but bringing them into the light of the gospel so that the church can be built up and thrive in grace.
 

 

            Holy God, you desire grace and truth in all relationships.  Help me to speak with boldness, in a spirit of mercy and integrity, so that there will be growth and spiritual fruit in all of my relationships through Jesus Christ my Lord.  Amen.