Monthly Archives: April 2015

"I will remember their sins and their misdeeds no more." Hebrews 10:17

Certain statements in the Bible are so arresting, so startling, that every time you read them you have to stop and let them sink in. Did God really mean that? Hebrews 10:17 is one of those verses.

It's actually a quote from Jeremiah, a part of the wondrous "New Covenant" from the Lord (Jer. 31:31-34). The day would come, said Jeremiah (speaking for the Lord), when God would create a new covenant, completely unlike the old one.

The writer of Hebrews (no it was not Paul, but that's about all we can say with certainty) realized that the new covenant had become a reality in Jesus Christ. The old one was based on law. The new one on grace. The old covenant was sprinkled with the blood of animals. The new one secured by the blood of the Son of God. The old one was hierarchical. In the new one, no person is better than anyone else.

In Christ there is a new day and a new creation. No more sacrifices. No more High Priests. No temple. Not even anymore law.

What about the sins that we so regularly commit? Here is the incomprehensible part: God forgets them. No, of course, God can never really forget anything, but He can love you as if you are perfect now, and one day through His grace make you perfect indeed. He knows all you have done, but He also knows beyond doubt where He is taking you. He forgets the sin.

The only person who remembers sin is a sinner. Right now someone may be remembering your sin for you and reminding you of it. But trust me, they are throwing stones at you simply as a way of forgetting their own sin. And most people have moved on from whatever you did. They don't remember nearly as much as you do.

And there's the problem. Why do you remember your sins when God doesn't? No one really understands God's grace. It is puzzling, even outrageous, that God can forgive so completely that a sinner becomes a saint.

In C. S. Lewis' The Great Divorce is a scene in which an unrepentant man, a "ghost" in the afterlife, meets one of his formers cohorts, a murderer. The murderer has accepted God's grace, and been transformed eternally. He is a resident of heaven, a "spirit." The ghost is shadowy and insubstantial. The spirit is real. This is the core of Lewis' theology of heaven and hell.

The ghost rants at the spirit, reminding him that he murdered a former associate (who also is now in heaven). "He is here," said the spirit. "You will meet him soon if you stay." To which the ghost replies, "But you murdered him." "Of course I did. It is all right now."

The scene is worth reading in full (pages 25 ff. in the most common edition). God's grace is so wondrous that it can make a murderer a new man. Even for the worst of us, there is a time when "it is all right now." It begins the moment we plead for God's mercy. He loves the invitation.

There is an old story, perhaps hackneyed, but it makes the point. A man had a guilt-ridden dream every night of standing before a silent God. He dared not speak, and cowered in fearfulness, sure that God was silently condemning him for his sins. After a week of such anxious nightmares he sought the counsel of a wise minister (likely Baptist) who suggested he simply ask God in the dream about sins he had committed. So that night he did, and was stunned to hear God say, "I don't recall."

You can do a good job of condemning yourself and living in the shadows of guilt. It's time to quit it. God forgets. So should you.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis
April 26, 2015

"I have learned whatever state I am in to be content." Philippians 4:11

Do you remember your first job? Do you recall what you were paid? I do. My first job was at Rosemont Grocery, a little full-service grocery store, originally on the outskirts of town but long since having been swallowed up by an ever-growing Lexington. It was across the street from where we lived, and I had been going there on errands for a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk ever since we moved there. The owner and clerks knew me and had watched me grow up. It was just natural, I suppose, that when they wanted another sack boy, I was it. I was paid $1.10 an hour and during the summers when I could work more hours I took home $24.10. I was glad to have the job and enjoyed it so much I even went there during off-hours.

A few months after I began working there another friend of mine got a job at Kroger, the big chain grocery store. Now I don't know what his hourly wage was, and I don't know how many hours he was working, come to think of it I don't even know if he was telling the truth, but he said he took home $80 per week. $80! I can remember thinking, "what would you do with all that money? How could you possibly spend $80 per week?"

Suddenly my weekly income seemed inadequate. "If only I could reach that level I would put Solomon to shame. Life would be easy when I made $80 per week." Well, needless to say, I hope, I surpassed $80 per week at some point, only to discover that if I made $100 per week (triple figures!!) life would be easy. Having reached that level, I discovered a new level of desire. Nothing ever seemed quite enough. I was always dissatisfied.

The principle at work here is called discontent, and it can affect every avenue of life. Money, relationships, career, health, etc. Discontent invites you to focus on what you do not have, makes you believe that something else satisfy you, and forces you to miss what God has given you.

The result is we are always straining, straining to make something of ourselves. Straining to get more. Straining to justify ourselves or feel more important. It comes in a number of expressions, but the result is always the same. Being discontent means missing out on the joy that God has placed right before you. We discover that we can have everything and nothing at the same time.

The opposite of discontent, of course, is contentment, the kind Paul wrote about in Philippians. He claimed that he was able to be content whatever state he was in. The fact that he wrote that when he was in prison, facing a very uncertain future, and no 401k, lends weight to his claim. He had something that we first-world folks mostly lack. He knew where true riches were. He found them in God.

The way to contentment is gratitude. In fact, gratitude is a kind of broad-spectrum antidote to most spiritual ills. It cures discontent, self-pity, envy, greed, self-centeredness, etc. Gratitude can help you relax in the rhythms of God's grace, trusting Him for your daily bread (and everything else). It takes your focus off your problems and puts it on God's wonderful, mysterious Providence.

I challenge you this week to try an exercise I have found very meaningful. When a dark or selfish thought crosses your mind immediately list 10 things for which you are grateful. If you can't then you know the origin of your discontent. If you can you'll notice a transformation of your spirit. You will be content.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis
April 19, 2015

"Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 14:11

Humility is a slippery topic. To claim you have it is a pretty sure proof you don't. Often we're not even aware of our need for it. In many circles humility sounds weak, though no one would say that out loud.

Jesus was a keen observer of humanity, and at a banquet one time he noticed how people scrambled for the chief seats not realizing how petty and small they had become, how "unreal" they were.. These little displays of ego inflation amused him, so He told a parable about how humiliating it would be for a guest to be told by the host "you have to move."

Life has a way of humbling us. Something will come along and remind you, that the seat is not really yours. Sports fans in the readership will recognize the name of Jimmy Valvano, whose greatest claim to fame was coaching North Carolina State to the national championship game in 1983. He was an incredibly intense man, possessed with winning.

His first coaching job was with Johns Hopkins University. On a bus ride home from a game in Gettysburg, Valvano was exuberant over his team's victory and a 3-0 start. His players called him to the back of the bus. "Why is winning so important to you? We've never seen anything like it. You're irrational." He answered, "because the final score defines you. You lose, ergo, you're a loser. You win, ergo, you're a winner."

"No," the players insisted. "The participation is what matters, the constancy of effort, trying your very best, regardless of whether you win or lose-that's what defines you." Valvano was unconvinced. He held on tightly to the notion that winning basketball games was the most important thing he could possibly do. That was what defined him. That was his identity. That was his security. That was his "chief seat." But it was not why he was created.

About 1990 Valvano began to battle cancer that would eventually take his life. He had plenty of time to reflect on what he held on to so tightly. Looking back over his life he recalled a rampage in his office at home after a 39-36 loss to Virginia in 1982, lamps busted, chairs overturned, papers and books thrown about. He recalled charging through a locker room door so hard that it knocked out the team doctor. He recalled the pregame talk of his life and the coaching jewel of his career when his North Carolina Wolfpack beat Houston one of the best college basketball teams in history to win the national championship. He recalled two dozen Christmases when his wife had to buy every gift and decorate every tree. That's the life he had when he pursued the chief seat of winning basketball games.

What changed him? It took waking up three or four times a night, his tee shirt soaked in sweat, his teeth rattling from the fever chills of chemotherapy and the terror of seeing himself in his dreams die again and again, that's what it took to get him to realize, "They were right. The kids at Johns Hopkins were right. It's the effort, not the result. It's trying. God what a great human being I could have been if I'd had that awareness back then! . . . Do you know, that 39-36 loss to Virginia was 10 years ago, but I could never let go of that game until I got sick. Now, it doesn't bother me at all." [from Sports Illustrated ca. 1993]

Some day you will find out that the seat was not yours, never was, and never will be. You're not popular enough. The house does not provide the status you thought it would. Someone is still above you in your field of work, etc. etc. Hopefully you will find out that that seat was not worth the effort anyway.

The puzzling answer from Jesus is "the first shall be last and the last first." We find our lives in God, loving Him, and being of use to one another. It's not complex.

The really good news is we don't have to contract cancer to learn about what's really important in life. God will teach us that the first will be last and the last first. One day He will offer us a place at His table, a place so much more exalted than anything we can get on our own.

Just stop the scrambling, and you become a real person. At that point, you will find peace.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis
April 12, 2015

What Day Is It?

"Give us this day our daily bread." Matthew 6:11

The Lord's Prayer, or The Model Prayer, is Jesus' gift to us. It is the answer to the disciples' request "teach us to pray." Typical of Jesus, He did not delve into the mysteries or problems of prayer. He simply gave us a 20 second "how to." Interesting. I preach a 10 week series on how to pray. Jesus sums it up in 20 seconds.

The first actual request in the prayer is "give us this day our daily bread." The word "daily" is a surprisingly obscure word in Greek (found only here and in the parallel in Luke). Outside of the NT we find only one example, in a shopping list or list of expenses. This scant evidence proves a real challenge to interpreters and translators. What does the word mean?

The word goes beyond a request for enough food to survive one day. In a broader sense, when you pray for daily bread, you are asking God to provide everything necessary for today. That includes not only the food you eat, but every need. God is faithful to provide precisely what you need for today.

This request for daily sustenance (physical, emotional, spiritual, etc.) draws on the imagery of manna. Recall that God provided manna to sustain the hungry, wandering people of Israel. Every morning they could count on God's provision. He never failed to provide.

Additionally, remember that the people could not store up enough for extra days. The manna would spoil after one day (except on the day prior to the Sabbath when they could collect enough for two days). They could only receive from God precisely what they needed for that day. In other words, they could not hedge against the future. They were forced to trust God would provide for the next day.

Now what is the application? First, when you pray this you are expressing your trust that God has already provided for you today. Nothing will surprise Him. You will not be left in a situation that has taken you beyond His providence. Whatever your need, God has already provided for you. Praying to God opens both your heart and your hands to His blessing.

Second, praying this phrase opens us up to receive God's provision. I don't believe God ever withholds a blessing from us, but we certainly limit our ability to receive His gift if we neglect to remain vitally and spiritually connected to Him. This means that I cannot store up for the future either. I must walk with Him in prayer, and thus trust Him for one day at a time.

The future often looms with a dreadful uncertainty. We have plenty of evidence that some tomorrows will be very hard. But a Christian never needs to dread the future. Wouldn't it be easier if we could hold in our hands all the manna for the remainder of our days? No. We are not to trust in the manna, but in the Father who provides it. Also, God never relieves us of the need to trust Him, because we are meant to live by faith, daily.

When I feel the cold fingers of fear I try to remember this part of the prayer. Often I will remind myself of the date. It's April 5. I have to focus on April 5, because that is the day God said He would take care of. I'll just say the same thing tomorrow. Jesus said that's the way we're built, to live one day at a time.

So when I say "what day is it?" the answer is not "hump day." Don't think of a camel! Think of God who said He would give you what you need to face today's challenges and rejoice in today's blessings. "Tis grace hath brought you safe thus far, and grace will lead you home." Daily.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis
April 5, 2015