Tag: grace

The Everlasting God (Isaiah 40:21-31)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment

Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard?
    Wasn’t it announced to you from the beginning?
    Haven’t you understood since the earth was founded?
God inhabits the earth’s horizon—
    its inhabitants are like locusts—
    stretches out the skies like a curtain
    and spreads it out like a tent for dwelling.
    God makes dignitaries useless
    and the earth’s judges into nothing.
Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
    scarcely is their shoot rooted in the earth
    when God breathes on them, and they dry up;
    the windstorm carries them off like straw.
So to whom will you compare me,
    and who is my equal? says the holy one.

Look up at the sky and consider:
    Who created these?
    The one who brings out their attendants one by one,
    summoning each of them by name.
Because of God’s great strength
    and mighty power, not one is missing.
Why do you say, Jacob,
    and declare, Israel,
    “My way is hidden from the Lord,
    my God ignores my predicament”?
Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard?
    The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the creator of the ends of the earth.
    He doesn’t grow tired or weary.
His understanding is beyond human reach,
    giving power to the tired
    and reviving the exhausted.
Youths will become tired and weary,
    young men will certainly stumble;
    but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength;
    they will fly up on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not be tired;
    they will walk and not be weary. (Common English Bible)

Strength, endurance, and perseverance are vital resources which come from the reservoir of spiritual resources.  One does not simply will it into reality, and, poof! It is there! No, these resources must be drawn from a source that is reliable and continual.

Whenever you and I are persuaded to use an unreliable and/or limited resource, like our own, or some slick marketed one, we are not revived or restored to keep going and persevere through a given situation. In such times, we may naively think that God is absent, and cry, “God ignores my predicament.”

But God isn’t sleeping. The Lord hasn’t gone out to lunch or taken a bathroom break. God is not the problem. 

We actually thought we could handle our own junk, independently, without any help, saying, “I’ve got this!”  Maybe, for a while, you did. But then the strength ran out; weariness overwhelmed you. All of sudden, it seems, you have overestimated yourself, and underestimated God. 

With no steady and reliable resource to draw from, your brain’s thinking became distorted, and your heart’s confidence sunk. That’s because the sovereign and majestic God is the One who gives power and life, and there was trust in other things beside the Lord.

Yet, placing our hope in the God who is there, is to plunge into an inexhaustible and gracious pool of strength.  God enables us to fly and soar above our human predicaments and our daily problems. With the power God provides, we can carry-on and follow-through with the demands, duties, and desires of life on this earth which God created for us.

To draw from the deep well of God, it is thus extremely necessary to meet with this God on a regular and consistent basis. If food and drink for the body requires multiple daily attention and time, then filling the soul is just as, and even more, important.

This need for daily spiritual food and drink is why I choose to engage in the Divine Hours, also known as the Daily Office, or Fixed Hour Prayer. At certain set times in the day I break away from what I’m doing to give attention to the soul by drawing from the merciful resources of God. 

Perhaps this might be for you, as well, a fresh way to address your parched and needy soul.

Here is a link to the Divine Hours, based on the book of prayers compiled by Phyllis Tickle:

explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/hours.php

Yet, no matter the particulars of how we address meeting with God, consistently drawing from the well of grace is vital to our spiritual and emotional health.

Set me free, O God, from the bondage of my sins, and give me the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to me in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

Epiphany of the Lord (Isaiah 60:1-6)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Adoration of the Magi, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington D.C.

“Arise, shine, for your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth
    and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
    and his glory appears over you.
Nations will come to your light,
    and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

“Lift up your eyes and look about you:
    All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar,
    and your daughters are carried on the hip.
Then you will look and be radiant,
    your heart will throb and swell with joy;
the wealth on the seas will be brought to you,
    to you the riches of the nations will come.
Herds of camels will cover your land,
    young camels of Midian and Ephah.
And all from Sheba will come,
    bearing gold and incense
    and proclaiming the praise of the Lord. (New International Version)

We are drawn to light. I don’t know if you have ever been in a situation with complete darkness surrounding you. When things are totally dark, we begin to fear and panic.

I grew up in a rural area in which there were no lights at night, other than the moon and the stars. More than once, I got myself into a situation, when the sky was overcast, in which I didn’t have a flashlight and could not see my hand in front of my face. I was groping to discern any little bit of light that I could see. Without the light, I was lost.

Our souls are also drawn to light. We no longer want to have darkness enveloping us; we cannot live with the darkness residing within our hearts. This is one reason why the Magi were attentive to the bright star over Bethlehem, and traveled toward it. We have a need for light because nobody can abide in darkness for too long.

The glory of the Lord is associated with bright light. Spiritually, we can find ourselves in such darkness that it’s impossible to discover light, unless God shows up displaying divine mercy and glory.

The Christian season of Epiphany has to do with this divine light. Each year on January 6, on the Church Calendar, and after the twelve days of Christmas, is the celebration of Epiphany. 

The Three Kings, Ethiopian Orthodox Church

It is a celebration of light – that Christ came to this earth as a child and became like us. Epiphany helps to bring a vision and understanding of God’s glory to all kinds of people in the world.

“Epiphany” literally means “manifestation” or “appearance.” The event most closely associated with this season is the visit of the Magi to Jesus. Included in this time of the year between the seasons of Christmas and Lent is a special emphasis on the teaching and healing ministry of Jesus. 

The people walking in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
    a light has dawned. (Isaiah 9:2; Matthew 4:16, NIV)

The great celebration and focus of these weeks is that salvation is not limited to Israel but extends to the Gentiles, as well.

“I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6; Luke 2:32; Acts 13:47, NIV)

In this season of Epiphany, the manifestation of God’s grace is one of the most scandalous truths of Christianity: God graces common ordinary people, who seem far from God, with the gift of Jesus. 

God grants repentance that leads to life for all kinds of people, no matter what their race, ethnicity, class, or background. It is a wondrous and astounding spiritual truth that God’s merciful concern is not limited to a certain type of person or a particular group of people.

Grace is (and ought to be) the guiding factor in how we interact with people. 

Losing sight of grace leads to being critical and defensive. Like King Herod of old, a graceless person becomes enamored with earthly power and control. But embracing grace, leads to humility, so that we see the image of God in people very different from ourselves. 

Like the Apostle Peter, who learned in a vision to bring the gospel to non-Jews, old legalisms begin to wear away so that people from all walks of life can have access to Jesus and his gracious saving and healing ministry. 

Grace brings down barriers and causes us to do away with unnecessary distinctions between others. And so, the appropriate response to such a grace is to glorify God for this marvelous and amazing work.

It is a gracious and merciful reality that the Magi, or Wise Men, who were really pagan astrologers, were directed to the Messiah. A light was provided to lead them to Jesus. Apart from God’s care and intervention they would have remained in darkness. 

And it is no less true for people today. This old broken world has a lot of shadowy places to it; there is darkness all around.  All kinds of people have no light at the end of the tunnel of their lives for hope and new life. But the gospel of Jesus Christ brings that light to those walking around with no ability to see. And Jesus exhorted his followers to be the reflectors of divine light for the world.

“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Jesus (Matthew 5:16, NIV)

Sometimes, maybe oftentimes, the best way to bring resolution to our own troubles and problems is through helping others make sense of their lives through the gracious light of Christ so that they can see an appearance, an epiphany, of what their lives can be in the gracious rule of the kingdom of God. 

As we celebrate Epiphany and journey with Jesus through his earthly upbringing and into his gracious ministry to people, let us keep vigilance to not let our light grow dim. Instead, let us hunger and thirst after Christ’s righteousness so that our joy is full and our light is bright.

God of radiant light, your love illumines our hopes before we know them, and our needs before we ask. Kindle your flame within us, that in our prayers and service, we may know your transforming presence at work in the world around us. All this we ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Celebration and Lament (Matthew 2:13-18)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Coptic Church depiction of the holy family in Egypt

Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the magi.Then what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

“A voice was heard in Ramah,
    wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
    she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.” (New Revised Standard Version)

Smack in the middle of the great celebration of Christ’s birth is a great lament. That’s because not everyone views the birth of Jesus with joy; there are others who see it as a threat and want to stamp it out.

We are humans, with two ears, two eyes, two hands, two feet, two lungs, and two kidneys. Our paired organs exist because we need the two of them in order to function properly. Joy and sadness, celebration and lament, are emotionally paired so that our soul may serve us as it is intended to. We hold them both together – at the same time, all the time – in order to have a well-rounded and healthy way of life.

In this time of year, it can be easy to gravitate towards either one or the other. We might become engrossed in all the shiny things of the season; or we may get lost by all the sorrows which the season stirs up for us.

I invite you to approach the mundane and simple manger. Although it might seem dull and unattractive – the last place you may find wholeness and peace – it is truly the place where we find God. It is here that both our joys and our sorrows meet, because among the stinky animals and the lower class life we shall actually discover the real longing of our hearts.

The gracious and almighty God preserved and protected the child Jesus. Christ’s early life retraced the life of ancient Israel. Like the Jewish patriarchs, Jesus went down to Egypt (and would eventually go down and face hell for us in his crucifixion); and, like the ancient Israelites, Jesus was brought up out of Egypt (and would rise from the dead bringing freedom from sin and death once for all) in a New Exodus.

It is as if the disciple Matthew means to connect the two Testaments as a unified whole by saying, “Look, here is the Messiah, the coming King, the promised One of Israel and of all the nations. Jesus is our salvation, the fulfillment of all that we have hoped for.”

Jesus is the New Exodus

In the second of three dreams, Joseph is told to take Jesus to Egypt. Joseph obeyed the Lord and took responsibility for the role of protecting Jesus, as contrasted with Herod’s role in attempting to murder Jesus.

Yet, there is more to this story than Christ’s protection; this is the fulfillment of a biblical pattern, an identification of Jesus with the people of God. Matthew pulled forward the prophet Hosea to say that just as God brought the Israelites out of Egypt through a great deliverance, God brought up Jesus, the Great Deliverer, out of Egypt as the unique Son of God.

Ethiopian Orthodox icon of the holy family fleeing to Egypt

When we hold the pair of Testaments together in both hands, we feel the weight of Jesus as God’s divine Son; so therefore, Christ is the rightful Ruler in God’s kingdom.

Just as God preserved Israel from Pharaoh’s wrath, the Lord protected Jesus from Herod’s wrath. God’s kindness and loyalty extends to us as covenant people and preserves us from the wrath of the devil who seeks to keep as many people as possible in the realm of darkness.

Our hope is in the Lord Jesus, who conquered the devil by establishing a beachhead on this earth through an incarnation as the Son of God.

Jesus Brought Us Out of Exile

The scoundrel King Herod massacred innocent toddlers to ensure the destruction of Jesus. Behind his atrocity was the devil himself, who knew Jesus was the coming king who would one day bring salvation. Reflecting on a vision of Christ’s birth, the Apostle John identified the sinister plan and the divine deliverance:

The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that when she gave birth, he might devour her child. She gave birth to a son, a male child who is to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was snatched up to God and his throne. (Revelation 12:4-5, CEB)

Satan wars against God’s Son and God’s people, whose roots go all the way back to the first prophecy of Christ after the Fall of humanity. God declared to Satan:

“And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
    and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15, NLT)

There has been continual enmity ever since, between the serpent and the seed of the woman. It manifests itself with the Israelites constantly being threatened with extermination and tempted to conform to pagan ways.

King Herod was just another in a long line of demonically animated persons trying to perpetuate the kingdom of darkness. We must take this threat seriously because the devil knows that his time is short. A second Advent is coming which will be the final judgment.

Satan’s most powerful weapon, death, has lost its sting because of Jesus. Christmas is a hard time of year for many people, filled with depression instead of joy, grieving over lost loved ones for whom we will not spend another Christmas with.

Yet there is a reunion coming, the hope of a bodily resurrection in which we will be with Jesus and God’s people forever. Be encouraged to understand that there is no time in heaven; it will be only a moment and the people who have gone before us will turn around and see us; we will one day join them.

Matthew also used the prophet Jeremiah to communicate hope. Jeremiah’s prophecy dealt with children who were lost in war to the invading Babylonians. The prophecy is a lament with the hope that captivity will not be forever.

The disciple Matthew wanted us to see that the exile is over for us; Jesus has arrived, and the tears which were shed will shortly dry up. There may be a time of suffering we must endure, but there will be glory. Jesus is the Great Deliverer who brings us out of sin’s captivity and into the promises of God. He is our hope.

Jesus is the promised One who will deliver us from the tyranny of the devil. Christ is the hope of the nations, the Savior of the world. So, let us come back to the first Christmas which was the beginning of the end for evil on the earth.

Believers in Jesus are part of God’s victory, and they overcome the evil one by the blood of the lamb, acknowledging that Christ’s incarnation was essential for us. 

Just as Jesus made a radical break with his former life in heaven through the incarnation, we, too, must break with our old way of life.

God will save the people through this child Jesus. The greatest gift we can give in this season and throughout the coming year is the gift of grace, the presentation of the Christ child.

Loving God, help us remember the birth of Jesus so that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and the wisdom of the wise men.

Close the door of hate and open the door of love across the world.

Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting.

Deliver us from evil through the blessing of the Christ child.

Teach us to be happy with pure hearts.

Grant us grateful thoughts, devoted hearts, and gracious hands, through Jesus our Savior in the might of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46b-55)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
The Magnificat, a woodcut by Sr. Mary Grace Thul

Mary said,

“With all my heart I glorify the Lord!
    In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.
He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.
    Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored
        because the mighty one has done great things for me.
Holy is his name.
    He shows mercy to everyone,
        from one generation to the next,
        who honors him as God.
He has shown strength with his arm.
    He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.
    He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones
        and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things
    and sent the rich away empty-handed.
He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,
        remembering his mercy,
    just as he promised to our ancestors,
        to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.” (Common English Bible)

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was able to wrap both her head and heart around an incredible reality – that God had done great things for her. And it was enough for her to erupt into a great song of praise. Indeed, the Lord shows mercy to everyone who worships and adores the mighty acts of God.

It strikes me that Mary, instead of being full of worry and afraid of the future, and as an unmarried teen with child, is full of the Spirit and faith. Mary neither complained nor fretted for the nine months of her pregnancy; she praised God and was clear-headed about the grace shown to her.

Mary’s canticle gives us insight into the mystery of the incarnation: God chooses the weak, those of low esteem, and the powerless. Mary was quite ordinary for her day. She had no wealth and nothing which would cause anyone to pick her out of a crowd.

Yet, Mary is the one chosen by God. And her wonderful response to grace demonstrated that there is so much more to any person than what we can see with our eyes and perceive through our earthly glasses of high positions and strength of personalities.

What’s more, Mary had the wisdom to discern that her situation typified the Lord’s egalitarian work of leveling the field so that all persons have what they need. Her son, the Messiah, would carry this into his own life and ministry – declaring good news to the poor, comforting the brokenhearted, proclaiming freedom for captives, telling those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.

We may tend to think that the work of God is surprising, only because we might often experience so little of grace and mercy in this old world. But God is always full of grace, mercy, and power to those who are powerless and in need of help. The Lord has our backs. 

Perhaps if we all, both individually and corporately, continually used our words to identify and declare the great things God has done, we would then realize the consistent blessing of the Lord. 

I encourage you to take some time today and either journal and/or speak with another about the ways in which God has been good to you in this Advent season, and like Mary, offer praise for each act of mercy. Mary exhibited no helplessness but had her heart calibrated to detect the grace of God when it was present.

May the joy of the angels, the eagerness of the shepherds, the perseverance of the wise, the obedience of Joseph and Mary, and the peace of the Christ child be yours this Christmas. And may the blessing of God almighty – Father, Son, and Spirit – be among you and remain with you always. Amen.