Daily Lesson for March 22, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 31 verse 21:

Blessed be the Lord!

for he has shown me the wonders of his love in a

besieged city.

The birds are chirping this morning outside my window and I am remembering back to where we all were a year ago, shut in completely in our homes, not knowing what the future would bring, or when.

Yet the song of the birds gave us comfort each morning.

And the sunrises were brilliant.

And there were calls from friends.

A colleague from another church brought me a palm frond.

And there were lots and lots of notes, and cards, and emails from all over.

"Blessed be the Lord!" the psalmist says, "for he has shown me the wonders of his love in a besieged city."

The kindness and miracles of God can never be numbered. And even the smallest and most unseen of them all is enough to save the world millions of times over.

Thanks be to God for all of these small, yet saving miracles. My gratitude list just keeps getting longer. For even in a besieged city, the daily "wonders of his love" are enough to bless and keep us . . .

Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.

Daily Lesson for March 15, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from John chapter 6 verse 15:

"When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself."

In a little under two weeks time we will celebrate Palm Sunday -- the day which commemorates Jesus' "Triumphal Entry" into Jerusalem, with all of the people celebrating him as king.

Reading the Gospels through new lenses -- especially through the lenses of the socially marginalized and oppressed -- many scholars now say Jesus did not accept kingship and his entry into Jerusalem was not so much triumphal as it was protestant (small p) and dramatic -- a kind of theatre of the oppressed.

I can't say for certain whether Jesus rejected kingship altogether. But I can say for sure he was skeptical of them. Read the Gospels and you see again and again Jesus' critiques of the "kings of this earth".

Jesus' kingship, if there was a kingship, was not of this earth. It was cut from a different cloth and planted from a different seed. Thus when Jesus came into Jerusalem He came not on a mighty war horse, but on a young donkey. If you were wanting a traditional king, it was indeed absurd. And the Bible says not even the disciples could understand it.

I'm sure we would have all been disappointed also. And maybe that's what separates Jesus from all the other kings of this earth -- he had spent time enough on the mountain, as in today's lesson, in prayer and meditation and in aligning Himself with the will of Heaven that He wasn't afraid to disappoint.

"Ride on King Jesus" we sing on Palm Sunday morning. And this year I'm asking myself, "Do I see Him on a warhorse or a donkey, a mighty, powerful steed bred for a centurion or a peasant's pony?"

The answer says a lot about what kind of king I would want if I were there.

PS -- I'm going to take the rest of the week off from Daily Lessons in order to spend more Spring Break time with family. See you all next Monday.

Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.

Daily Office for March 12, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from John chapter 8 verses 31 through 36:

31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”

34 Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed."

In the interview he and Meghan Markle gave with Oprah Prince on Monday night Harry said he was "trapped" but didn't know that he was trapped.

That is a sad but true statement so many could make when it comes to dysfunctional lives at home, work, and church. They are trapped in toxic and/or abusive relationships but they don't realize how bad things really are. They are like fish who know nothing else besides water. They have no idea there is another whole world out there.

Jesus came to set people free. But part of what disturbed so many about him was the fact that they didn't know hat they were trapped. They couldn't or wouldn't see how abusive the relationship they were in with their whole culture and community really was. And when Jesus told them, it was too much. The truth was too much. Suddenly, the anger they had inside of themselves towards both their abusers for their abuse and themselves for allowing the abuse was turned towards Jesus. This is classic displacement and a part of what got people to participate in the killing of Jesus.

There is a quote often falsely attributed to Harriet Tubman, “I freed a thousand slaves I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.” Actually, those in bondage to chattel slavery clearly knew that they were enslaved. It was the so-called free people who had the problem of being enslaved but not being able to see it. They were trapped too, but didn't know it.

Jesus said, "When the Son sets you free you are free indeed. It's a deed, meaning its done finally, and completely, and lawfully. It's an emancipation proclamation.

And the proclamation is this: "You don't have to live like this anymore. You don't have to be trapped and enslaved to anyone anymore. You are free indeed; may you live free indeed also."

Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.

Daily Lesson for March 11, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 42 verse 10:

The Lord grants his loving-kindness in the daytime;

in the night season his song is with me,

a prayer to the God of my life.

While the light shines bright, we soak up the goodness of the suns rays -- with hardly any acknowledgment. Our blessings are so manifold we don't know to count them, nor could we if we tried. Grace abounds and we are blessed, we hardly even know it. We take it all for granted.

But then when the night comes, and all we have left is a song, or hymn, or spiritual song to sing, we hold onto that one single blessing like its the last ticket to heaven. A single song keeps us going, it keeps us alive, amongst the living along with those who sang the spirituals for 400 years or the dirges for 4,000 before.

A single song may be all we have tonight. It may be all that's left within us. But it will be our prayer. And it will be enough. We will count our blessings; and even if the number is just one, it will be enough.

And we will make it through this midnight.

Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.

Daily Lesson for March 10, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 119 verses 105 through 107:

105 Your word is a lantern to my feet *

and a light upon my path.

106 I have sworn and am determined *

to keep your righteous judgments.

107 I am deeply troubled; *

preserve my life, O Lord, according to your word.

Saint Augustine said the word of God is a light beckoning us from a long distance down the path, and a lamp at our side guiding us step by step -- "a lamp unto the feet and a light unto the path".

A long way down we see where we are going. It is a place of hope, and peace -- with justice, and destination where all are safe, and well, and call home.

How we get there is another matter. Every step we need the light. The lamp at our feet shows us where to walk next.

In between we don't see much. It's dark and unknown. But we don't have to worry about that yet. The light we have is enough for right now.

Way down distant the light calls and compels. Right here it guides. One step at a time we walk. Together, they are enough to keep us going.

And as the old Spiritual says:

"Walk together, children

Don't ya get weary."

Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.

Daily Lesson for March 9, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from John chapter 7 verses 51 through 52:

51‘Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?’ 52They replied, ‘Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.’

This coming Sunday Nicodemus appears in the Lectionary readings and so today is a kind of sneak peek at what I'm going to try to say then. Thus far, I'm planning to speak about William Sloane Coffin, Watergate, and the Rattlesnake Roundup in Sweetwater. I'd say that makes for a pretty wide-ranging group of references. I hope you'll tune in.

Nicodemus was between a rock and a hard place. He knew Jesus was from God, yet he also worried over what it would cost to follow Him. He worried over what he would have to give up. He fretted about the future. And rightfully so, he didn't want to end up on a cross himself.

Jesus described what Nicodemus was going through as a kind of birth. "You must be born again," He said. This meant he had to "come out" as a follower of Christ. But doing so was very risky and unsafe. It was downright dangerous. Silence was complicity, yet speaking was self-condemnation. That's a tough choice. No wonder Nicodemus came to Jesus "by night".

Being born again is tough stuff. It's hard work and it often costs us something -- relationships, reputation, our job, our job security. It's scary as Hell -- literally!

But unless we be born again something inside us will continue to die. It will probably die slowly, and painfully, day by day, until it is dead.

Nicodemus did not die. He struggled, he groaned, he grimaced, and he was silent too long. But something inside him was still alive. And in the end, he let it live.

I hope we will too.

Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.

Daily Lesson for March 8, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Jeremiah chapter 7 verses 4 through 11:

4Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is* the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’

5 For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, 6if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, 7then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors for ever and ever.

8 Here you are, trusting in deceptive words to no avail. 9Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, 10and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are safe!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? 11Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your sight?

Yesterday I preached on this text. It was written 2,500 years ago. Jesus quoted it 500 years later. And two millennia later it is still applicable. It is not okay to come and worship God on Sunday while Monday through Saturday exploiting neighbors or arguing for policies which punish and/or afflict the most vulnerable. And as I said yesterday, it is not okay to come to church maskless and without social distancing and think that God that kind of worship.

True worship is how we treat people. For that is the true Temple of God -- the Temple of the Human Being. It is holy and to be kept undefiled.

Let us honor it in all we do.

Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.