Tag: grace

Galatians 3:1-9

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            “You stupid Galatians!  I told you exactly how Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross.  Has someone now put an evil spell on you?” (CEV).  So, Paul, what do you really think of the Galatians’ attitude?  The apostle was totally exasperated with this church.  Having embraced the gospel of grace the Galatian churches turned around and started practicing a gospel of works.  This did not just raise the ire of Paul; he went spiritually Rambo on them.  The Christian life, Paul argued, was thoroughly imbibed with grace – so much so that there is no room whatsoever for Christianity to practically exist outside of grace.  If we were saved by grace, we continue to live by grace.
 
            The Galatian heresy, or stupidity, or whatever you want to call it, still exists.  Having been redeemed by the grace of God in Christ, there are “believers” who persist in declaring a gospel of judgment for any and all who are different.  Whereas they were saved by grace, stupid believers set up a system of works for folks like the LGBTQ community.  Somehow they cannot be saved and sustained by grace because they are in a special class of sinner.  In this system, somehow Muslims can only be saved and sustained by proving how bad they are, and not by grace, because they are terrible people who want everyone else dead.  Somehow they need a gospel of judgment….  I see stupid believers everywhere (said in a hushed whisper).
 
            If I seem perturbed, I guess I am.  I would like to think I’m living along the lines of the Apostle Paul, but I know the human heart’s propensity toward thinking better of itself than it really is.  It seems that, without fail, someone inevitably feels the need to remind me that God cares about truth whenever I talk about grace, as if grace isn’t the highest truth that one could hold.  If it isn’t the gospel of grace it is not biblical – it is a perverted gospel – and the evidence of it is folks who downgrade the crucifixion of Christ and living by the Spirit in favor of group-speak and fighting the culture wars.  Lord, have mercy, Christ have mercy.
 

 

            Gracious God, you are merciful and save all who come to you by faith in the name of Jesus.  Help me to see grace for what it is – scandalously free and exorbitantly wonderful – bought with the price of Christ’s blood.  Amen.

Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-24

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Even in the darkest of moments in time there is still the remote possibility of hope.  On this Holy Saturday while we remember the darkness in between Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, one of the important angles to keep in mind is how the original disciples must have felt on this day.  We, of course, know the end of the story.  We know that Christ is about to be risen from death and that the tomb will be empty.  But Peter, James, John, and the rest of Christ’s followers had no idea this was going to occur. 
 
            Let’s take the thought even a bit further:  what was Jesus experiencing during this time in the grave?  I know it is a crazy thought, but Jesus completely and fully entrusted himself to the Father.  Did he ever have a doubt or wonder if things would shake out as we now know they would?  Sometimes we might lose sight of the reality that Jesus is quite fully a human with all of the limitations that go with it.  Christ knows full well how difficult it can be to live life on this earth surrounded by sin, evil, and trouble.  He knows what it feels like to be afflicted, to be forsaken, to be profoundly touched by the sin of others.
 
            But suffering does not have the last word.  “My soul continually remembers it [affliction] and is bowed down within me.  But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:  The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” These are not just words from the prophet Jeremiah; they are the thoughts of Christ himself.  Jesus placed his faith and hope in the Father.  The disciples placed their faith and hope in Jesus.  We, as well, must discover that darkness and death never have the last word.  The last word is always and forever GRACE.  It is the mercy of God that trumps death and every evil practice and each sinful agenda.  Wait for it… wait for it….
 

 

            Almighty God, grant that in your mercy I might obtain the result of your passion:  forgiveness of sins and new life in Jesus Christ, who loved me and gave himself for me.  Amen.

Mark 7:24-30

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            There are many times in our lives when not much happens until something becomes urgent.  A doctor, a preacher, or financial planner can tell us something until they are blue in the face, but it will not mean much without a profound inner sense that some sort of change needs to occur – that the way things are isn’t going to cut it any longer.
 
            Today’s Gospel lesson is a story of urgency.  Here is a Gentile Canaanite woman, a person who is about as far from God as one can get in the ancient world.  She was not concerned about appearances, etiquette, or any pretense to hide her pain; she cared about her daughter getting healed of her suffering.  So, she sought Jesus.  And the woman believed that Jesus was the answer to her daughter’s situation.  It was the dogged belief (pun intended) that Jesus will deliver.
 
            Grace is bestowed only to the humble that recognize the urgency of needing Jesus.  It is bestowed only in God’s good timing – not ours.  The real muster of a genuine faith is exemplified by a willingness to beg, and is demonstrated with perseverance in the face of the slimmest of odds.  A superficial reading of the story might lead us to think that Jesus’ initial response to the woman was elitist and aloof.  It seems to me that a better way of looking at it is that our faith will be tested to prove its authenticity.
 
            The woman displayed a raw, real, and persistent faith – the very faith that Jesus commended.  It makes me wonder how urgent I am in prayer.  I wonder what would happen if I prayed for one lost neighbor or relative every day with the same urgent persistence as the woman; or, if I begged God without giving up to heal my grandson’s epilepsy; or, if I persevered in prayer for revival.  Perhaps the real enemy of the Christian life is mediocrity and a false sense of acceptance that all is just fine the way it is – kind of like the Pharisees.
 

 

            Healing God, you are the hope of the church and of all who look to you in faith.  Please turn the world, and my world, upside-down with spiritual power that heals people of disease, depression, and demonic influence so that the kingdom of God breaks into all of life and does its transforming work in Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Grace Is the Word

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
Whether we are aware of it or not, the world spins on the axis of grace; without God’s mercy life as we know it would cease to exist.  Judgment and death are never the final say over the earth – grace is the word that changes everything and transforms the impossible into the realm of reality.
 
The large Old Testament book of Isaiah is thick with the message of judgment for both Israel and the nations that surrounded her.  The sins of Israel were many.  The primary offenses were injustice toward the needy with the have’s taking manipulative advantage of the have-not’s; and, empty worship rituals toward God.  Social and spiritual corruption was rampant.  God pleaded with the people through his prophets to stop doing wrong and start doing justice, encouraging the oppressed, and defending the causes of people who do not have the power to defend themselves (Isaiah 1:10-17).
 
            Although God’s judgment was imminent through the powerful Assyrian Empire, God would not annihilate his people.  God promised that a Righteous Branch would grow up from the seemingly dead stump of Israel.  A child would be born.  A Messiah would be given.  There would be hope in Israel.  Heartfelt authentic praise will again fill the air.  Proclamation of God’s great name will again be on the lips of Israel.
 
            What is remarkable about all this is God’s grace.  God made promises to Israel not based upon what they would or would not do; God made promises to his people by his own radically free love.  It was not a situation of making a deal – “if, Israel, you get your act together then I, God, will be good to you.”  No!  Before Israel even had a chance to return to the Lord, God was already choosing to be gracious and merciful.
 
            If we miss the message of God’s grace in the Holy Scriptures, we have missed salvation because only grace can save us.  What we have in common with the Israelites of old is that we both are totally dependent upon God’s amazing grace.  Without grace, we are lost.  There is praise because it is a response to the incredible grace God gives which is completely undeserved (Isaiah 12:1-6). 
 
            Grace is the thing that is distinctive about Christianity – no other religion, no other place will you find grace amidst the awful muck of the world.  Grace is love that seeks you out when you have nothing to give in return.  Grace is recklessly generous.  Grace does not use carrot sticks, scorecards, or power politics.  Grace does not demand – it only gives.  Grace is unconditional acceptance given to an undeserving person by an unobligated giver.  That is what God did for Israel.  That is what God has done for us.  And when we get a hold of this truth, even a little bit, there is a cascade of praise that comes rolling out of our hearts and onto our lips.
 
            The prophecy of Isaiah is an adventure of God’s reckless love toward unlovable people, which is why it is one of the most quoted books of the Old Testament by Jesus.  Jesus came because of grace.  Jesus came to release us from our obsessive need to be right, our compulsion to be rewarded, and all our anglings to be respected.  Because Jesus came to set sinful captives free, life does not have to be a joyless effort to justify and validate ourselves before others.  The grace of God in Christ is a game-changer.  And when we get a glimpse of it we are forever altered and undone by its mercy.  Grace brings praise.
 
            When grace takes hold of a congregation there is no mumbling of songs – there is a shouting aloud and singing for joy because God is great!  Grace brings such joy and gladness that we do not care what we look like to other people; we are going to shout and sing and express our joy!  Yes, there is an important place for contemplative, reverent, reflective worship… and, there is a place for completely letting go, becoming unhinged, and dancing before Jesus!
 

 

The season of Advent is all about God’s relentless pursuit of wayward people – the anticipation of grace coming in the form of an infant – and the bringing of grace to a people living in darkness. Let us return to the Lord.  Let us be captivated by grace.  Let us renew our love for Jesus.  Let us lose ourselves in praise and adoration of the One who gave everything for us.  Let us worship Christ the King.  Let us proclaim his name as exalted over everything.