Monthly Archives: December 2017

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"When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him." Matthew 1:24

Are you dealing with unexpected turns in your life? You might be feeling kind of lonely, but trust me, you have lots of company. We're all either in the middle of turn, about to go into a turn, or coming out of one. We just need a reminder that God is with us through all the turns.

Joseph is a good reminder. Let's take a look at the life that he had planned. From Gospel of Matthew and Mark we know that Joseph was a carpenter, for some of the foes of Jesus derided Him as merely the "son of a carpenter." Carpentry was his trade. He was, in all likelihood, a hard-working man. Joseph's career was set. He would be a carpenter. In this respect he would get the life he expected.

But then the turns begin. A young woman named Mary caught his eye. She is lovely, a beauty and sweetness that comes from her very soul. They did not date in those days, probably did not even court in the usual sense of the word. Marriages were usually arranged by parents. They were betrothed to one another. Betrothal means more than engagement, it's just a slight degree from marriage itself. Betrothal means a ring and a date, dressed purchased, tuxes rented, invitations sent, standing at the altar. That would be the modern day equivalent. So Joseph looked forward to marriage with Mary. That is the life he has planned, the life he rightly expects. He would wed Mary, be a carpenter in his hometown of Nazareth and make a life together.

Then a turn! Mary informed him that she is pregnant! This was a biological impossibility from Joseph's viewpoint. He knew they had been honorable in their courtship. This had to be the most devastating news he had ever heard in his life.

Now we know that Mary had already been told of the miracle inside her, and we can imagine that she tried to explain that this pregnancy was from God. I'm sure that her explanation was more than a little confusing. For any other girl, this story would be greeted with one gigantic, "yeah, right!" But Joseph loved Mary and probably wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. Still he knew he was not the father of this child. This was not turning out like he had expected.

So then he made a very important and revealing decision. He decided to divorce her quietly. You can see how binding betrothal was when the word used to dissolve it is divorce. He had every right to be angry, and to protect his reputation by publicly exposing her pregnancy and making certain that people knew he was not the father. He likely would have been believed. He might have even been encouraged to do this by family and friends.

But Joseph obviously had a very strong sense of honor. He would keep this affair quiet, suffer silently, absorb the pain and try to move on. He had no idea what plan B would be for his life, but with this difficult decision behind him he went to sleep.

Then another big turn! An angel appeared in a vision and confirmed what Mary likely told him. This was God's Son. Joseph was to marry her and take care of this baby. He woke up from the dream and the scripture tells us he obeyed God. He married Mary, and when the child was born he did exactly as he had been told. He performed the rights of a father and named the child Jesus, again, exactly as he had been instructed. It's a wonderful life, but definitely not the one he had planned. Life had taken a turn.

But let's back up. There were other turns. Near the time Mary was to give birth the emperor decided to take a census and everyone had to go to their ancestral home. For Joseph this was Bethlehem. He had expected to be able to stay at home, provide for Mary and the new baby. Instead, as the 40th week approached he finds himself leading a donkey with a very pregnant wife aboard, journeying about 80 miles to fulfill a stupid mandate from a stupid Roman emperor! I can tell you that if this would have been Leslie and me that would have been one cranky couple. We have no evidence of that with Joseph and Mary. But Joseph was bound to think at least occasionally, "this is not turning out like I expected."

The story is not finished. More turns! Because of the anger and jealousy of another stupid ruler, Herod the Great, the baby's life is in danger. Again, an angel appeared to Joseph with instructions to take the child to Egypt. Egypt?!!? Who did Joseph know in Egypt? I would have all kinds of questions, but apparently Joseph had none. He obeyed, all the while thinking, "this is definitely not turning out like I expected."

A while later he got the angelic green light to go back home. He and his family settle in Nazareth. He worked as a carpenter, provided for Mary and Jesus, and taught Jesus the trade when he was old enough to learn.

He had come full circle. This is the life he had anticipated, but what a journey to get there!

All of the unexpected events in your life have surprised you, shaken you, and, at their worst, threatened to overwhelm you. But not a single one of those events occurred without God's knowledge, presence, and enduring purpose. He simply does not allow evil to derail His providence in your individual and precious life.

The theme of the second week of Advent is peace, but so little of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus were peaceful. It seems that God is not terribly interested at any point in history in eradicating all chaos and confusion, until the end I suppose. He just shows up in the middle of it all and offers peace.

I think Joseph found out that was enough, And he was still enough to hear God. He had to be. Otherwise he would have flung away in anger and frustration. Instead he just listened, obeyed, and God gave him the life he always wanted.

I'll take peace this Christmas. I'll find it in the gentle whispers of God, but I have to be still. I do hear those whispers. I have peace. Now I want to remember this through all the turns of life.

Grace (and peace),

Dr. Terry Ellis

December 14, 2017

"Hope that is seen is not hope" Romans 8:24

Hopelessness is a great human disaster. Hopeless people abound. Life for them is dry, full of despair. They have nothing to look forward to other than pain or grief.

Hopelessness comes in countless expressions, and all of us have felt its cold touch. A student comes into a classroom to find out that the test is today, but thought it was next week. All hope is gone of doing well on that test. You didn't make the team. Hope disappears.

On into adulthood you feel hope drain away when you didn't get the job. You were laid off. You were asked to retire early. A future that seemed secure and bright is now full of uncertainty, dark and threatening.

Hopelessness can be much more painful. The phone call from the doctor's office, "your test results are in Mrs. Smith, the treatments have not been effective. There is nothing else we can do." I've seen hopelessness on scores of different faces, people who had counted on something and yet life stripped away their security. Dreams fade, then die, the embers of hope cool to the ashes of despair.

Then someone or something comes along and reawakens hope, and like rainfall in the dessert, life returns. They have something to cling to, something to live for. That is the power of hope. Hope has an immediate, animating appeal to the soul.

Think of a hopeful response to each of the situations I mentioned earlier. The teacher allows the student to take the test the next day. Another company calls, they want to interview. Another doctor says there is a new treatment. "I can make you feel better." Hope reawakens!

Just as each of us knows despair, each of us has known the soul-stirring power of hope!

I want you to have hope today. You may have experienced a string of disappointments, or you may have one chronic disappointment. The gray walls of despair may have closed in on you and crushed any glimmer of hope. It's time to hope again.

This new hope cannot be in humanity or in your power. In fact, that is the source of your despair today. Misplaced hope.

Men are peddlers of hope. We promise solutions in politics, science, health, education. And I thank God for the right use of each of these! Invest yourself in positive way in all of them.

But never forget their limits.

Look at the beginning of the 20^th century if you want to see real, human-generated hope. The world was well on the other side of the Enlightenment, and the gears of The Industrial Revolution were beginning to grind at full speed. Science promised a bright new day, and clear thinkers were certain that we had left behind the ravaging wars that plagued the continent and the world.

No one was more hopeful than H. G. Wells. He is best known best known for science fiction works like The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Invisible Man, Time Machine, and War of the Worlds. But he also wrote books with splendid titles like The World Set Free, and later The Work, Wealth, and Happiness of Mankind. His novels were utopian, and he believed that humanity would march into a bright new century illuminated by science and human goodwill alone.

Wells went on to live through two world wars, genocides and man-made catastrophes unmatched in history. His last book, Mind at the End of Its Tether, contains his sad conclusion: "Mankind which began in a cave and behind a windbreak will end in the disease-soaked ruins of a slum." He had placed his hope in humanity and its potential for advancement, but he also discarded belief in God. His hope eventually was crushed.

Do we discard God? Too often we let the clouds of our present-day disappointment obscure the sunshine of a bright eternity promised by God. And before we begin to complain that eternity is a long way off, remember that God's hopeful eternity works its way back into our daily lives. It's here and there and all around us. As I often say, you find what you look for in life.

I'd wager everyone reading this believes in God, and if I asked you to place you'd probably say that in the end God's plan all comes together. Yet today you feel despair.

The heart of the problem is God's timing. We trust that He's good, powerful, and active, but He sure is taking His time. We just don't see the promise fulfilled. He's. Just. So. Slow.

God's apparent slowness doesn't prove the futility of hope, it proves the necessity of hope. Of course, we don't see the fulfillment. That's the nature of hope. Paul wrote, "Hope that is seen is not hope" (Rom. 8:24).

Your hope must be bigger than your health, finances, and relationships. Hope in the eventual redemption of the universe. Seriously. That's the real object of hope, that God will one day make all things right. All things.

Thus, patience is the flip-side of hope. No harvest is immediate. And God deliver us from ignoring the endless ripe fields while we focus on one fallow corner.

The theme of the first Sunday of Advent is hope. We read from the prophets and light the prophets' candle. Interestingly, the prophets' words about the coming Light and the wonderful counselor, etc. didn't come to pass for centuries. Seven centuries for some of the prophecies. All that time the people of Israel waited. Waiting people must be faithful people whatever the circumstances.

So stay hopeful, in God, because hope makes life worth living. No, the promises have not all come to pass, but they will. In God's time they will. Just walk with Him from now until then.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

December 3, 2017