Category: Year C

1 Corinthians 1:3-17

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            The Apostle Paul clarified his foremost mission to the Corinthian church:  Christ sent him to preach the gospel.  Everything else Paul did, from healing people to gathering offerings for others, from making tents to journeying around the Mediterranean world, he did with the central focus and aim of proclaiming the gospel of God’s grace in Jesus Christ.
 
            The Corinthian believers had lost sight of this urgent and needed imperative of preaching the good news of Jesus.  They had hardened into opinionated groups and had broken down into disunity over things that were secondary, not primary.  Paul wrote to correct this situation, which had gotten out of hand.
 
            The proclamation of the gospel needs to be at the core of every church and every believer’s life.  When it isn’t, there will be factions, special-interest groups, and condescending attitudes which are more than ready to fill the vacuum left in the center.
 
            Everyone in the church has a role to fulfill, a gift to exercise, in proclaiming the gospel of grace.  For me, I enjoy teaching Scripture to unbelievers and answering their questions, as well as mentoring believers in the cardinal doctrines of faith and practice.  Others proclaim the gospel through hospitality, or partnering with others, or even inviting people to events and bible studies.  In all the myriad ways God has gifted us, whether it is in serving or speaking, we are to use that gift not to advance a personal agenda, but to preach the gospel.
 

 

            Blessed Father, Son, and Spirit, you are One God, perfectly united and in continual harmony.  You have loved humanity to such a degree that you orchestrated a great deliverance from sin, death, and hell.  Help your entire church to get our eyes off our petty differences and fix our gaze firmly and graciously on proclaiming the good news of salvation in Jesus, our Lord.  Amen.

Romans 12:9-21

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            A bit of historical context will give us a better appreciation for today’s New Testament lesson.  Within the ancient church at Rome were converts out of Judaism and paganism.  In other words, both Jew and Gentile worshiped together within one church.  These two groups of people had very different backgrounds.  So, even though they were both believers in Jesus, they had a tendency to look down on one another.  Because of this attitude, each group thought that the locus of authority with was with themselves, and not the other.  That is, who should call the shots in the church? 
 
            This ecclesiastical milieu is why Paul wrote his letter to the Romans; he wanted the entire church to rally and unify around the gospel, not in being Jew or Gentile.  Since they were both justified or made right by Jesus, they both needed to live up to true Christian living.  So, Paul gave some very pointed encouragement and exhortation of how both groups ought to be treating each other.  They are brothers and sisters in Christ.  Therefore each should love one another with genuine affection.  Jew should rejoice with Gentile, and Gentile should weep with Jew.  If things get out of hand, blessing ought to be the default response, not cursing.  Both Jew and Gentile must be willing to associate with each other, honor one another above themselves, and live peaceably with all.  There is to be no favoritism in contributing to the needs of all the saints, whether Jew or Gentile, and in showing hospitality.
 
            As we think about all of these various commands of Scripture together, one of the things we need to hear with great clarity is that the exhortations are to be carried-out without discrimination.  Various special interest groups within the church are not to simply lobby for their own needs, wants, and preferences.  There is to be a concern for the entirety of God’s people, whether we understand them well, or not.  This has profound implications for us, not only within our own local churches, but within the church universal.  Thinking deeply about such matters, and translating them into action, is a worthy cause for every believer and church.
 

 

            Loving God, you came not to only to save me and people like me, but to deliver all kinds of people from the power of sin.  Enable me to be genuine in my love for all people, no matter from what background.  May love be the glue that holds all believers in Jesus together.  Amen.

Luke 11:14-23

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Watching the Green Bay Packers on television does not make one a professional football player.  Sitting in church does not mean someone is a Christian.  In responding to some critics among him about doing the work of casting out demons, Jesus summarized his actions and the actions of others in this way:  “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
 
            Jesus was all about the kingdom of God breaking-in to this fallen world and transforming everything.  That meant the kingdom of darkness was going to be pushed back.  Participating with Jesus in his kingdom enterprise is a watershed test of whether someone is genuinely following God or not.  There are a million armchair quarterbacks who will freely give their advice and opinion about how things should have gone and what those playing ought to be doing.  Jesus was and is calling people out to get off their butts and follow him.  Only watching him is to be against him, not for him.
 
            Faith is not a checklist of beliefs to adhere, but a dynamic living participation with Jesus in his plans and purposes for the world.  Leave the critical spirit, haughty attitude, and selfish expectations in the stands.  Get on the playing field.  To simply have our hands in our pockets is to actually work against Jesus.  Are you willing to gather with Jesus?  How does God want to you to serve?  Are you only a fan of Jesus?  Do you play armchair preacher on Monday morning?  The kingdom of God has come upon us.  Allow that reality to sink deep into our lives.
 

 

            Mighty God, Jesus is the strong man who has bound Satan and is ushering in a new kingdom.  Let me be a part of what you are doing in this world so that my faith is confirmed, strengthened, and used for your purposes.  Amen.

Jeremiah 3:1-5

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            We all have needs.  As human beings, each one of us has some deep hunger for love, intimacy, attention, affirmation, and encouragement.  When these needs are met within gracious and loving relationships, especially in the marital bond, then there is genuine happiness and flourishing.  But when our deep wants go unmet over a stretch of time, smiles are replaced with furrowed brows and confident strides give way to slumped shoulders.
 
            We feel deeply and are moved at the visceral level of our being because we are made in the image and likeness of God – a God who himself feels and has great emotion.  Perhaps we too often think of God as some disembodied ethereal brain who has no feeling.  I would hope that today’s Old Testament lesson would put a collar on such notions.  God entered into a loving covenant relationship with Israel.  Yet, over time, the Jews looked for their relational, emotional, and spiritual needs to be met in other gods other than the One true God.  And it pained God.
 
            God felt quite deeply about this turning away from him.  The Lord responded to his people like a jilted lover who is agonized by their acting the part of a whore – looking for their needs to be satisfied elsewhere.  It seems to me that God is so profoundly hurt because he knows that our deepest and greatest needs can only really be met through him.  We unequivocally need God.
 
            To put it in the stark terms of Jeremiah’s prophecy:  Are we playing the part of a whore, running after all kinds of other relationships and things that we wrongheadedly believe will meet the needs of our lives?  Do we sell ourselves to others in order to make a living?  Have we sought other lovers and forsaken our first love of Jesus?  It behooves us all to connect with our longings and needs, and allow the God who delights to meet those needs into the core of our being.
 

 

            Jealous God, you are zealous for your presence to be known in the lives of all your creatures.  Help me to know the deepest needs of my life.  May I find in you the desire of my heart and let you fill me with your infinite grace, love, mercy, and attention so that I will know true peace and joy, to the glory of Jesus Christ.  Amen.