Category: Year C

Psalm 20

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            We place our trust in things and other people every day.  We trust the chair to hold us up when we sit down; we trust the grocery store will be open when we go to it; and, we trust people to keep the promises they make to us.  Yet, we have all had the experience of something breaking on us when we sat on it; a store being closed when we went to it; and, someone not following through with what they said they would do for us.  There is a difference between lesser trust and ultimate trust.  If we place ultimate trust in things and people other than God, then we will be the most miserable of people because they will all let us down at some point. 
 
            The psalmist lets us know where our ultimate trust must be firmly placed:  “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”  It is part of the human experience to be disappointed and let down by others.  Discouragement is only exacerbated exponentially into paranoia if our ultimate trust rests on chariots and horses, that is, in a more contemporary rendering, military technology and lots of tanks, planes, and weapons.  If security and peace of mind is measured by the systems and staff we put in place, then it will never be enough and we will continually be looking over our shoulder.  But if our faith is solid in God, then the constant angst of the election season and the forebodings of news media outlets will not shake us and cause us to collapse under the worried strain.
 
            There is nothing wrong with keeping up with the news and latest events.  There is, however, something wrong with looking at those events through a sub-biblical lens as if God were not sovereign in the world.  There is nothing wrong with expecting others to keep their promises.  There is, however, something wrong with treating them as if they are little gods who must pander to the demands of me, the constituent.  Psalm 20 is available for us to read and pray as much as we need to, in order that our worldview can stretch to believe in the ultimate trust of God.
 

 

            God Almighty, you reign supreme over all nations and all people.  There is no threat too serious, no situation too dire that you are unable to deal with in grace and power.  I place today my ultimate trust in you, knowing and believing that you are always good for your promises through Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Hebrews 10:19-25

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Discouragement can easily settle into the bones when we are not thriving in some way.  The church rests upon three indispensable elements that must be present for every believer in Jesus to thrive as citizens of God’s kingdom:  faith, hope, and love.  “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith… Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering… And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.”  Just as a three-legged stool cannot stand on only one or even two legs, so our personal and corporate Christianity will not stand unless faith, hope, and love all exist side by side.
 
            Furthermore, these three vital elements must be based in the person and work of Jesus Christ, and not within our own soul’s fortifications, or lack thereof.  The basis of our confidence in living the Christian life is through the blood of Jesus, that he has taken care of the sin issue once for all through his death.  This is all activated in a practical way through meeting together and encouraging one another as the Body of Christ.
 
            The irony of the Christian life is that in losing our lives we find them; in being last we become first; in emptying ourselves as servants of others we are full.  It is people who attempt gain for themselves that miss faith in Christ; who always have to be right that ultimately lose hope; who seek to be served and thus never know real love.  Let us develop and maintain habits of faith, hope, and love – accessed fully through participation in meeting together as believers in Jesus.
 

 

            Gracious Lord Jesus, you have gone before us and secured deliverance from sin through your death on a cross.  My trust is in you, my hope is in your promised return, and my love belongs to you and your people, now and forever.  Amen.

John 11:45-57

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            We are moving inexorably toward the cross and Good Friday.  The season of Lent marches on and within a few weeks we will be considering if we were there when they crucified my Lord.  Today’s Gospel lesson chronicles the forward progress to the ultimate suffering and death of Jesus.  Within the Apostle John’s account, two streams run parallel with one another.  There is a group of Jews who observed Jesus, listened to his teaching, saw his miraculous works, and believed in him.  Alongside them is another group of Jews who experienced all the same events and heard all of the same words of Jesus.  Yet, they respond in a very different manner by plotting how Jesus might be arrested and killed.
 
            Caiaphas, the high priest, spoke to his fellow Jewish leaders perhaps without even knowing the truth and deep import of his prophetic words:  “You know nothing at all.  Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”  Indeed, not only did Jesus die for the nation of Israel, but on behalf of all nations, and all people. 
 
            Now is the time to begin in earnest a consideration of the cross of Christ.  The implications of his death are magnanimous.  The extent of his atonement for the people includes redemption from the slavery of sin; reconciliation between us and God; satisfaction of God’s wrath against the sin of the world; and, victory over Satan, death, and hell.  March Madness for the Christian is setting aside some significant time for prayer, confession of sin, repentance, contemplation, spiritual conversation with other believers, and fasting as we anticipate the holiest week of the year.
 

 

            Precious Jesus, you endured the machinations of people and the plots of others so that you might face the cross in all of its foulness and degradation.  Enable me to walk with you along the road of suffering.  In doing so, may I know you better and better and know the life that is truly life.  Amen.

Isaiah 43:8-15

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


            I am an unabashed Calvinist – a Reformed theologian and pastor.  I believe in God’s unconditional election of persons to salvation and new life.  Maybe that means nothing to you, and to others it means everything.  For many, it is just some churchy mumbo-jumbo that is rather irrelevant to the real stuff of the Christian life.  But it is quite important.  The heart of Reformation faith is a focus on God – his sovereignty, majesty, power, and grace.  It is God who justifies, and not any human.  That means there are no “conditions” to which God is beholden to act.  In other words, God works in his world according to his own free will and is not dependent upon anyone or anything to accomplish his good purposes.
             Today’s Old Testament lesson is a soaring view of God in his grace and powerful control.  “Yes, from eternity I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I act and who can cancel it?”  God’s rhetorical question lets us know that nothing can separate us from the love of God.  We might jump from finger to finger in our puny attempts at autonomy, but we are not getting out of God’s hand!  This really ought to be a comfort to every believer.  God’s decrees will be fulfilled, and there is not one thing that any wicked person can do to thwart his plans.  Furthermore, there is absolutely no way we can screw-up God’s purposes.  We simply do not have such power.  Our great task as believers is to rest secure in God’s will and place our trust in Him who knows exactly what he is doing in the world.
             So, take a few minutes, draw a few deep breaths, and think on this wonderful truth that God is sovereign.  To help you, here is the great opening to the Reformed confession, The Heidelberg Catechism, giving us a glimpse into the majesty of God:
What is your only comfort in life and in death?
That I am not my own,
but belong with body and soul,
both in life and in death,
to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins
with his precious blood,
and has set me free
from all the power of the devil.
He also preserves me in such a way
that without the will of my heavenly Father
not a hair can fall from my head;
indeed, all things must work together
for my salvation.
Therefore, by his Holy Spirit
he also assures me
of eternal life
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for him.