Category: Year C

Hebrews 10:32-39

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


             I am something of a wordsmith who deals in language and stringing sentences together every day.  There are words in English that have become lost over the decades.  Some of them need to be recovered because, along with the word, the idea has become lost, as well.  One of those words is “pusillanimous.”  It means to have a cowardly spirit, or, more literally, it is a shrinking of the soul.  
             Few of us look upon humanity in this day and age as having souls which are flexible (if we believe people have souls at all).  The human soul is continually either in a state of enlarging or shrinking.  The soul is not a static thing; the inner workings of a person are always in flux.  The Christians for whom the author of Hebrews was addressing had begun their Christian lives with souls that grew and flourished.  But gradually, over time, they did not exercise faith on a continual basis, and they became pusillanimous – their souls began to shrink.  The author was so concerned for them that he realized they could shrink to the point of not enduring to the end and would experience a wholesale failure of faith.
             Faith is like the barbells of our Christian bodybuilding.  Unless we consistently and persistently use faith, our Christian souls will slowly but surely begin to grow small, to shrink.  A profound lack of courage, a pusillanimous spirit, will always be the result when in circumstances which require faith – unless we are on a daily regimen of spiritual exercise to expand the capacity of our souls.
             In a time when we are aghast at the soul-less actions of terrorists, mass killers, and cyber-bullies, we must realize that the inner workings of such persons have resulted in a terrible shrinkage of soul.  If we have such a small soul is it any wonder that evil actions are not far behind?  Daily altruistic actions of faith will counter such withering insides and expand the inner person so that love becomes the default response in each and every situation.
             Mighty God, you have created me in your image and likeness, unique among all your creatures.  Strengthen my inner person and expand my soul so that it may contain a greater capacity for faith, endurance, and love through Jesus Christ, my Lord.  Amen.

Hebrews 10:10-18

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            As I sit here at my computer easily keyboarding my thoughts, it is almost inconceivable to me that I made it through my undergraduate college days in the early 1980s with a manual typewriter and notetaking with the old-fashioned pen and spiral notebook.  No cell phone, no tablet, no electronic devices aiding me through my education.  Typewriters are now obsolete, along with corded telephones and wringer washers.
 
            But even more incredible is the complete replacement of an old mundane system of ritual sacrifice to a religion of the heart in which God would remember people’s sins no more.  This is such a radical change that it would be like having self-cleaning dishes or total speech-to-text “writing” of “papers.”  It is much more than a labor-saving device; it is a completely different system that leaves the old system obsolete forever.  That is what Jesus Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice did on our behalf.
 
            We live in a New Covenant era in which God has put his laws on our hearts and written them on our minds.  No typewriter, no computer, no keyboard necessary because the blood of Christ has introduced a seminal change in how we relate to God.  There is now a thorough forgiveness that no longer requires any labor, ritual, or work.  Indeed, it is finished.  Now, we live into the new reality provided for us.  It is an era of great peace, joy, and goodwill.  It is so good that it would be absolutely ridiculous to go back to the old way.
 
            Slow down enough in this season to connect or re-connect with the most wonderful of truths:  Jesus Christ came to save sinners. 
 

 

            Saving God, you have completely taken care of the sin issue once and for all through the blood of your Son.  Forgive me for my predilection to retreat into old obsolete ways of trying to earn peace and joy, instead of adopting the new, which sometimes seems almost too good to be true.  Thank you for deliverance and new life in Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Luke 7:31-35

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            I am quite sure that all of us at some point in our lives have been in a no-win type of situation.  Even Jesus experienced it.  John the Baptist came as an ascetic, eating no bread and being a teetotaler and the people thought he had a demon.  Then, when Jesus came on the scene doing just the opposite, eating and drinking and having a grand old time, the people accused him of being a drunkard and a glutton.  When it came to the religious authorities of the day, Jesus was like the Rodney Dangerfield of the ancient world – he never got any respect from them.
 
            I’m actually a bit relieved that Jesus went through that kind of scenario.  Sometimes it just seems that, with some people, I can never quite do anything right – they grump and complain no matter what I do or say.  Wise King Solomon was familiar with such people; he called them fools.  “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself.”  Then, in the very next proverb it says, “Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes” (Proverbs 26:4-5).  So, which is it?  How do I handle a fool?  The answer is:  you don’t.  A fool is going to be a fool no matter what you do or say.  Handling them is a no-win situation.
 
            So, what do we do with such people?  Jesus just went about his mission despite what the foolish generation was saying about him.  And we must do the same.  Some people are going to talk, gossip, and label you something you aren’t.  We don’t take our cues from fools.  We find our security in Jesus, live and love just like him, and let the critics blow out their blowholes into the air.
 

 

            Wise Jesus, you handled people as well as anyone could, yet, they still criticized you.  Help me to live and speak wisely so that when people talk it isn’t because of my foolishness but because of my love.  Amen.

Isaiah 11:1-9

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            No more appropriate Scripture could be highlighted during the season of Advent:  “And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.”  As Christians, we believe this is a prophecy of Jesus in whom all of these virtues exist in wonderful perfection and practice.
 
            Jesus has so clearly identified with us that we are in a vital union with him.  He still exists here on earth in the person of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus was sent by the Father.  With the Father and the Son, the Spirit was sent to press the redemptive events of Jesus into the believer’s heart.  This is basic robust Trinitarian theology.  But these are not abstract ideas.  Prayer, discernment, and listening are the pathways forward to discovering the wisdom, counsel, and knowledge we need in order to live and serve well as Christians.
 
            In many quarters of Christianity the church exists as a mere stump of its former existence.  In many Christians’ daily experience the Spirit has been supplanted by individual ingenuity, hard work, and getting ahead through accumulation of more and more.  Basic Christian spirituality is a mere shadow of its former influence.  If we again desire the Spirit of the Lord to rest upon us, we will seek Christ as of foremost importance.  Let this Advent season be a time of renewal as we take the prophecy of Isaiah to heart.
 

 

            Righteous God, you have not forgotten your people.  Thank you for fulfilling all your good promises to us in Christ.  I seek you for everything so that I might do your work and implement your will instead of trusting in my own abilities.  May Jesus be glorified and praised through the work of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.