Monthly Archives: October 2012

"To what shall I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the market place and calling to one another 'We piped to you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not weep!" Luke 7:31-32

This is a parable that you are likely to have overlooked all of your Bible-reading life. You may recall it vaguely, but have you have really stopped to think about why Jesus told it? By the way, I think Jesus told it with a slight smile on His face.

Here's the context. Though popular with the people because of His teaching and miracles, the Pharisees and lawyers murmured their complaints in the background. Jesus did not fit into their plans, and they would tell anyone who would listen.

Jesus knew what was going on, and He knew also that their criticisms would spread and become shouts to crucify Him. So He told an unusual parable to describe complainers. He looked around and saw children playing in the village square. And what kind of games did they play?

A wedding was the biggest social celebration in a village. It was a community event in which the entire village would participate. The wedding took place outdoors. The procession went through the streets. The newly-married bride was lifted above the crowd and paraded around. They played music and danced. Can't you imagine children in that day would want to play wedding? "Let's play wedding!"

But there were complainers in the crowd of kids. "No, we don't want to play wedding." So the other children would say "we played the pipes but you don't want to dance."

All right. If not wedding how about funeral? A funeral was another big social occasion. Children had seen funerals, and I imagine they might reenact one. Or perhaps it was like in my family. I have performed good Christian funerals for three dogs, two parakeets, a cat and some fish. Jesus had seen some children imitating the adults in all the pomp and circumstance.

But the complainers again objected, "No, we don't want to play that either." And so the others would say "we wailed and you did not weep."

Then Jesus brings home the meaning (Luke 7:33-35). God had acted in history during this time in a remarkable way. John the Baptist entered the world with a message of a rough-hewn prophet. In camel's hair and leather girdle, full of locusts and wild honey he said, "Repent or the judgment of God will fall upon you!" He was not always accepted, but he was never misunderstood. Many listened, most rejected him.

Then came Jesus. The Messiah Himself arrived, and He was different from His cousin. John the Baptist went out into the wilderness. Never took a course in how to win friends and influence people. Jesus was completely opposite. He intentionally traveled through villages and towns. He liked being around people, went to their weddings, their funerals, their feasts. He would sit up late talking and loved the crowds.

What did people say about Him? A few loved Him, but many more rejected Him. What was Jesus' verdict? "John the Baptist comes with judgment and you say he has a demon. I come with grace and you say I eat and drink too much." Some people in that day could not be satisfied.

And people today have the same habit. Nothing is satisfying. We live in a culture of complaint where the reigning goal is to try to find something to satisfy us for a short period of time.

Ours is the most marketed-to generation in the history of the world. Researchers know what a 54 year-old man like me wants. When I click on CNN they know my surfing tendencies. I go to Amazon.com and it says "welcome Terry" and they have recommendations for me to purchase. I go to Wal-Mart and the entire store is designed to make me purchase as much as possible at low, low prices.

What our society has produced is self-focus on steroids. We have wonders available to satisfy our latest need, and without realizing our need has been created by advertisers and marketers. Whatever you want, you can have at a dozen stores in Baton Rouge, or delivered via on-line within a few days. We expect the self to be happy, and when the self is not happy we complain, become easily offended, fix the blame on someone else, and completely overlook God.

Surely one of the worst sins in life is failing to see what God is doing around and in you. He really is always at work, and He really does love and care for you. Thomas Merton wrote, "To be grateful is to recognize the love of God in everything He has given us-and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. Gratitude, therefore, takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference."

Discernment leads to gratitude, and gratitude silences complaint. God has acted in history, and He has acted in your life today. Be still for a moment, draw back from the keening cries of want and dissatisfaction, and remember that God has anticipated and taken care of your every need in Christ Jesus.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

October 29, 2012

"No test has overtaken you that is not common to all people. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the test will provide a way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." 1 Corinthians 10:13

We are more familiar with the translation of the above text that reads "no temptation." The word Paul used, however, means any kind of test. If we limit the work only to a temptation to sin, then we miss the larger context Paul intended. Yes we all struggle with sin to a certain degree, but the tests come in all shapes and sizes, and they certainly appear to overtake us at times.

You know the feeling. One problem seems to diminish only to be replaced by two others. You feel the strain of the test. You wonder if you can endure it.

This text teaches us that in times of testing we must rely on God's faithfulness. Getting through a test is not simply a matter of your being stronger. It is a matter of trusting that God has provided what you need and will further strengthen you to endure it. He will see you through.

Trusting in God's faithfulness is the most necessary but perhaps most overlooked aspect of the Christian life. We place a great deal of emphasis on our effort. We strive, we persevere, we run the race, and believe we can do all things through Christ. Good! Wonderful! But the greater truth is that our little faith is met by a truly great God.

Oswald Chambers provides a wonderful illustration. "A saint's life is in the hands of God is like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint says—'I cannot stand anymore!' God does not heed, He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, then He lets fly."

God does not protect you from all tests, but He does transform the test. Your test serves God's purpose of making you complete. God will not let you be stretched beyond your strength. Your single task in life is to trust yourself to Him. Trust that He will make you stronger than you are presently. Trust that He knows what your finished life should be. Trust that He will enable you to endure the strain you presently feel. God is faithful! You must be trusting.

Dr. Terry Ellis

October 22, 2012

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow." Hebrews 13:8

In January 1968, Malcolm Muggeridge resigned as Rector of the University of Edinburgh. He left because he would not be party to the relaxation of rules at the school that prohibited students from buying and selling marijuana on campus. He faced a hostile crowd as he gave his final address to the students.

"The students of this university are the beneficiaries of centuries of selfless scholarship. You are supposed to spearhead progress and to carry on the torch of humanity. Speaking for myself there is practically nothing that you could do in a mood of rebellion against our impoverished way of life for which I should not feel some degree of sympathy. But how infinitely sad, how macabre that the form of your rebellion should be a demand for drugs, for the most tenth rate sort of self indulgence ever known in history. All is prepared for a release of new life. We await great works of art, the spirit of adventure and courage, and what do we get from you? Self centered folly. You are on a crazy slope. For myself, I always come back to the King, to Jesus, to the Christian notion that all our efforts to make ourselves happy will fail, but that sacrifice for others will never fail. A man must become a new man, or he is no man. Or so at least I have concluded, having failed to find in past experience and present dilemmas any alternative proposition. As far as I am concerned, it is Christ or nothing. Goodbye and God bless you."

Muggeridge's words have a continuing relevancy in light of the seemingly irresistible urge some people have to commit themselves with undiluted conviction to the most bizarre causes. From the still ongoing arguments for the legalization of drugs, to the completely unbalanced discussion of rights in general, to the moral vacuum that leads people to rationalize immoral behavior, our society continues down a crazy slope.

We all need a center, a foundation and an upward call to our lives. We need a standard that is unchanging against which we judge all options available to us. To think that you can guide yourself successfully through this world without divine help from the Author of life is yet another form of sheer folly.

The author of Hebrews had surveyed several competing claims to Christ: angels, the law, the temple. He concluded that Jesus is all-sufficient and deserving of our highest loyalty. He is the same throughout every age. He is the eternal alpha and omega.

We must occasionally revisit decisions and recommit ourselves to things that have always been most important. Today I challenge you to think carefully about your commitments, activities and attitudes. Who is guiding you? What is guiding you? I believe Christians need a daily rededication to Christ, a daily taking up of the cross to walk through an often crazy world.

Malcolm Muggeridge, as I recall, spent much of his life as a hard cynic, skeptical of the Christian faith. When he realized later in life that he lacked a foundation he gave his life to God. I pray that we all share his conviction: it is Christ or nothing.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

October 15, 2012

"In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and His train filled the temple." Isaiah 6:1

This opening verse of Isaiah's call to be a prophet tells us a great deal about his faith during a calamity.

It was in the year that King Uzziah died. The death of a king was a tremendous crisis. We benefit from living in the USA and having an orderly transfer of power, even when tragedy strikes. Not so in the ancient age. Intrigue, assassinations, foreign incursions were all the norm during this tumultuous time.

In addition to the national unrest, King Uzziah's death may have been a personal loss for Isaiah as well. Throughout his prophecy we find hints that Isaiah was a religious leader, respected in the priestly hierarchy, and thus well-known to the royal family. Isaiah was not only worried about the uncertainty of his country, he also mourned the loss of a friend.

Now notice two more things about this single verse. First, Isaiah was in the temple. He was in the right place, worshiping God and seeking direction and solace from Him. In worship you encounter God in a special way. Isaiah was in the temple because in the temple, life became clearer for him. Place is important to us. A place to meet God is vital.

That's why a church, a physical location, is so important. I often hear that people love God, or Jesus, or spirituality, but not the church. That sounds to me a lot like wanting to be in love but not married. A church is admittedly often messy and even unChrist-like, but so are individual detached lives. A church is a place to meet God.

I wonder how much of the contemporary indictment of the church is the result of a judgmental attitude on the part of those who neglect it. If you want to critique anything you will always find something to mark wrong. Christ died for the church, and the individual, local church will always be a vital place to meet God.

Second, Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up. This marvelous vision of God's greatness came at a time of personal weakness. The Bible is full of stories of the ways our faltering becomes the occasion for God to step in. Our meager achievements, or even a string of blessings, never reveal God as clearly as the thorn in the flesh.

Isaiah's prophecy is marked by a theme of seeing versus blindness. Calamity and loss for Isaiah was not an indictment of God's neglect or an unveiling of the temple's inadequacy. Isaiah's weakness created a spiritual space in his soul for a new vision of God's greatness. And God stepped into those shadows with His brilliant, holy light.

We are inclined to endlessly evaluate God. Let it rest. Quiet the objections and questions long enough to listen and see. Resist using circumstances as a gauge of God's power and providence. In time God will always use challenges to refocus you on Him, if you allow Him. In that process you will discover in a new and deeper way that God is Lord of all, just as He is Lord of your life.

Whatever change or challenge you face right now, rest assured that God is great and will reveal that to you in a special way. So stay faithful and watchful. Trust God to order and provide.

Dr. Terry Ellis

October 7, 2012

"Yes, at that time I will change the speech of the people to a pure speech, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord, and serve Him with one accord." Zephaniah 3:9

If we dismiss and overlook the minor prophets because of their harsh denunciations we miss half the picture. Certainly, they condemned sin. The first two chapters of Zephaniah are a harsh condemnation and warning to Judah because of her spiritual indolence and idolatry. The temple was active, but the hearts of the people were wrong. They needed to be corrected. So do we.

But every prophet also has a section of redemption and that is certainly true with the third and final chapter of Zephaniah. He promised that one day God would restore the people, bless them, and be near to them. When they repented they could turn to God and find that He was searching for them all the while.

The verse quoted above is one example. One prevalent problem with the people was their speech. In His restoration of them, God would change their speech to a "pure speech." This transformed speech would lead to serving God "with one accord." I like that connection. It is obvious, but needs to be stressed.

What is a pure speech? First, it is always true. Lying is condemned in the Ten Commandments, and lying about a neighbor is particularly offensive. Always speak the truth. Before you say something, ask yourself if it is true, not just in part, but in the whole. We can avoid many problems if we simply seek to speak the truth.

Second, pure speech is gracious. Jesus taught us to give mercy as we have received it, and warned that we will receive the standard of judgment we apply to others. Gracious speech means that you will never criticize someone who is absent. It also means that you will allow that you probably do not know the whole story. Instead of pronouncing a verdict based on half the evidence, you speak graciously. Or you might choose to not speak at all!

Third, pure speech means that you will seek to use speech to be a blessing. This applies even when we need to address problems. I read somewhere recently that "the failure to confront is permission to continue." That is true, and we do need to confront problems. Let's make sure, however, to do this in a healthy way, by speaking to the person who needs it and not about the person with everyone else in earshot. Pure speech always seeks a solution rather than creating a problem. Speech is one of the most powerful gifts God has given us. Use your speech to bless others.

The real point of this verse, however, is that the transformed people of God will serve Him "with one accord." As servants in a church, we should set a standard of being "in one accord." That does not mean that we will always agree, but it does mean that we will use our speech to solve problems rather than spread them.

Take a moment in prayer today to examine your speech. Is it pure? It can be. Let God speak to you, transform more of you, and use you to be a blessing to others. Let's set the standard, by using "pure speech" and serving God in one accord.

Grace,

Terry Ellis

October 1, 2012