Monthly Archives: December 2011

“Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.” Luke 2:19

Mary had a lot to think about in the days after Jesus’ birth. Most mothers do. A new baby is full of wonders and challenges and hopes and fears. It can all be a little overwhelming to any new mother, even Mary. The verse quoted above comes after the shepherds’ visit. A few days later, old Simeon would prophesy about the child and include dark words to Mary, “and a sword will pierce through your own soul also.” The word ponder literally means to cast together, as if Mary tried to pull together disparate events and discern something meaningful. She had much to ponder in her heart.

You are receiving this GraceWaves during the week between Christmas and the New Year. I like this week, and always have. The rush of Advent, all the extra services and extra people, has receded. In the ministry we usually take a few of these days off, although they are good days to be in the office. It seems everybody else is catching their breath too before the onslaught of a new year.

The main reason I like this week is for the opportunity it provides to ponder. This spiritual exercise is especially valuable in light of our tendency to think about New Year’s resolutions. I’m all for New Year’s resolutions, except that they tend to be so irritatingly practical, like making a budget, or losing weight. These and other goals are quite good, but in a matters of the Spirit, God often is infinitely impractical. Even with the birth of His Son, God was rather vague in the details (you think Mary really understood what being the mother of the Messiah would mean?), and God really did not make the birth easy or convenient (unmarried, four-day donkey ride, no reservations at an inn, etc. Seriously?). Mary had much to ponder about her life, the life of her child, Joseph, and God’s design in all of these matters.

In the same way, God’s goal is not your waist-line or your bottom line. His goal likely is not even for you to read a certain number of chapters in the Bible daily or spend a set amount of time in prayer. God is always interested in creating in you a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. That righteousness takes you beyond numbers.

We want to ponder during this week because we are just departing a time in which we got at least a glimpse of how wonderfully good life can be. Surely you noticed that. At some point during Advent, maybe it was Christmas Eve, the breath of God seemed particularly warm and close. You sensed way down deep in your soul the truth behind all the decorations, presents, and parties. You sensed Him.

The Celtic Christians wrote of the “thin times” or “thin places” where the distance between the physical and spiritual world was thin. A sanctuary is a thin place for me. Or a forest. Or Advent. Christmas is the thinnest time of the year. I think it is for most people. That’s why more people come to church during December than any other month. That’s why Christmas Eve services are regularly packed. People sense that something is special and true about these events we celebrate. So before you rush back to the thick places, what should you ponder about your life and God’s mysterious and powerful work in it?

Perhaps in God’s quiet words you will discern a need for more quiet places during the year and remember that He created one day each week to be different from all others. Sunday is the thinnest day of every week. Are you using it in its original intention?

Perhaps in rehearing the Christmas story you understand that as God provided for Mary and Joseph He will provide for you. Now you can turn from being anxious for many things and engage daily in the work of God’s kingdom. You realize that there will be easy days and hard days, but each day is a joyous day.

The last two paragraphs reflect my own pondering. What about you? Please take one more deep breath of this Christmas season before you walk too far away from it. God usually whispers, but He does always speak. Listen. Ponder. Where does He lead you?

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

December 26, 2011

“And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.” Luke 2:4-5

Bethlehem during the first Christmas mirrors 21^st century America this Christmas in some striking ways.

Bethlehem was a small city of perhaps a couple of thousand residents during the first century. It was and is located about 6 miles south-southwest of Jerusalem. During the time described in Luke 2:1-7, the population had swollen. Augustus had ordered a census, and the manner the Romans followed was to have everyone enroll in their hometown. People had to return to Bethlehem in obedience to a Gentile emperor’s orders. They had to leave their homes and jobs. To make matters worse the entire disruption was due to taxes! They were going there to pay taxes.

Over the centuries attitudes toward taxes have changed little. No one likes paying taxes. But at least today we don’t have to go back to our hometown to do it.

So, what we have here in Bethlehem is an overcrowded village, filled tired grumpy people trying to get some business done so they can get on with their lives. Sound familiar?

And arriving late was a couple. The young woman was well into her third trimester. She has accompanied her husband, who walked the whole way, on the trip from Nazareth, a distance of about 70 miles that would have taken three to four days. Let this sink in: first time mother-to-be, near the 40^th week of pregnancy, four days on a donkey, arriving late, labor has begun (riding four days on a donkey in the 40^th week will do that). They arrive in the busy little village and the husband didn’t have reservations. So they end up staying in a cave. “Well, it’s a nice cave. A no-smoking cave. We’ve got fresh straw!”

One of the main themes of Christmas is peace. In fact, on the second Sunday of Advent we light the candle of peace, which is sometimes called The Bethlehem Candle. Bethlehem and peace do not seem to go together. Who made this schedule? Why would God allow His Son to be born in the midst of such chaos?

Unless… Perhaps God was making the point that peace is offered where peace is most needed. If God can bring about such a miracle in a tempestuous little village, ill-equipped to host the most significant birth in the history of the world, what can He do in other places? He brought His gift of peace to that first Bethlehem. But what about the second Bethlehem?

The second Bethlehem is your heart. It is the place where Jesus can be born again, bringing peace where peace is most needed.

Make no mistake, this second Bethlehem can be every bit as hectic, frenzied, and frantic. People are burdened today. They are worried. Entire issues of journals I read are dedicated to helping people deal with the fear and insecurity they are feeling. They want peace desperately, but do not have it.

Our lives reflect our society in many ways. Always striving to try to make something of ourselves, we miss the point that Christmas is all about a gift given in unlikely places. God is coming to you. Instead of rushing through this season, take some time to reflect. And receive God’s gift of peace.

Merry Christmas!

Grace and peace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

December 19, 2011

“And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah.” Matthew 1:7

The Gospel of Matthew begins with a genealogy, tracing Jesus’ ancestry back to Abraham. The dizzying list of begats threatens to lull the casual reader into drowsy nap. The temptations is to assume nothing here is of real value. Let’s move on to the real story that begins with Mary and Joseph.

However, if you slow down and look closely at the genealogy, you will find some very interesting details.

For example, Matthew noted especially that Solomon’s mother (Bathsheba), had been the wife of Uriah the Hittite. You remember her story, and his. Matthew could have easily omitted her and the uncomfortable associations, but he did not.

In fact, quite contrary to typical Jewish genealogies, Matthew referred to four women in the lineage of Jesus. In addition to Bathsheba, we read Tamar’s name in v. 3. Her story is long and complex, but suffice it to say that she disguised herself as a prostitute, seduced her father-in-law and bore two sons by him.

Then there’s Rahab in v. 5 who did not have to pretend to be a harlot, she was a card-carrying member of the world’s oldest profession. Next we find Ruth, a fine woman except for the unfortunate fact of her ancestry. She was from Moab, and for reasons too complicated to go into, the law clearly stated that no Moabite shall be a member of the nation of Israel. Among a people who valued racial purity, she would be forever marginalized.

Lest you think it’s only the women who come out looking a little shady in this list, the guys have even more black marks. Start where Matthew began, with Abraham. He was a man of great faith, no doubt, but he also had more than a few qualities in his character that did not need to be there.

For example, on his first trip to Egypt, he told Sarah, his wife, to pretend that she was his sister. Sarah’s beauty attracted the attention of the princes of the land. They in turn praised her beauty to Pharaoh. Sarah, as instructed, told them she was Abraham’s sister and was taken to Pharaoh’s house. No harm, the Pharaoh thought, in dating someone’s sister. Long story short, the ploy saved Abraham’s life, but I doubt Sarah was too pleased to be passed off as a sister. Wives are sensitive like that.

Then, of course, Abraham impregnated a servant girl named Hagar. He did have Sarah’s permission, but doesn’t this story sound like something Dr. Phil should address? Concubines are simply never good for a marriage, I don’t care whose idea it is. The point is, Abraham was not a man of pristine character.

Neither was his grandson, Jacob (also in Jesus’ lineage). In plain English Jacob was a cheat for much of his life, taking advantage of his intellectually challenged older twin, his blind father, and wrestling with God so hard he came out with a limp. This is not the kind of guy you want to discover in your family on ancestry.com.

Space is limited so I can’t go into the misdeeds of David (adultery and murder), or Solomon (700 wives/300 concubines, which is about 999 too many relationships), or the numerous other kings mentioned here (evil intrigue and numerous apostasies).

What do we make of all this? God’s grace is so puzzling, and at no time more so than during the Christmas season. From the genealogy, to the selection of a poor simple, teenager like Mary as the mother, to the dirty little village of Bethlehem as the setting, the whole story of Christmas is oddly scripted. The casting is strange.

But it seems that God delights in taking a stall and turning it into the birthplace of the King of Kings. He calls lowly, smelly shepherds to be the first audience. He takes humble people, some with checkered pasts, and has them take lead roles in the greatest story ever told.

And so the light should begin to dawn this Christmas that God can take you with your checkered past and history of failure and sin, and work you into a special place in His plan. You may not be qualified, but God qualifies you through His grace.

Many people struggle with guilt. Some guilt is deserved for it alerts us to the presence of something wrong and dangerous. Other times the guilt is artificial, for it is the product of either an over-sensitive conscience or the result of an over-bearing personality that makes you feel guilty when you should not.

You must learn to distinguish between good and bad guilt. When the guilt is valid, ask forgiveness, make amends as necessary, accept grace, and quit punishing yourself. If God doesn’t hold the deed against you, then neither should you.

Brokenness does not disqualify you, and your past does not determine your value or your future. We all limp, but God invites us to limp into the circle of His light. So rest assured, whatever your past, you have a place in the Father’s family.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

December 11, 2011

“While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become children of light.” John 12:36

Light is a cardinal theme in the Gospel of John. He introduces the word early and returns to it often. The Light is Jesus Himself, who was with God and was God from the very beginning, created the world, and then came into it (1:5). The words of Jesus, “I am the Light of the world” (9:5) are found only in John. We find more “light” in John’s gospel than any other.

Not surprisingly we also find a lot of darkness. Darkness and night are also key themes in the gospel and signify all that stands in opposition to the Light. Even the sympathetic Nicodemus came to Jesus “by night” (3: 2), indicating his spiritual darkness. The shadows can be much more sinister, for when Judas left Jesus to betray Him, he went in the night (13:30).

Advent is a time to celebrate The Light. We remember and joyously welcome again the good news of Jesus’ birth. We sing of it, decorate our homes and sanctuaries in honor of it. Christmas surrounds us! The Light has come.

Yet we also sense the shadows. Sometimes we are well-meaning, like Nicodemus. Other times we willingly embrace what is clearly against The Light and not at all in our best interest. Any proper spiritual exercise during Advent requires both embracing what is good and letting go of what is bad. We cannot celebrate The Light fully unless we become aware of, and turn away from, the darkness and night that are a part of every one of us.

That is where Henri Nouwen’s prayer comes in. Nouwen was one of my favorite authors. He died in 1996, but his influence continues strongly through works like The Return of the Prodigal. He chronicled his battle with depression in A Wounded Healer. He was a saint in the truest sense of the word.

He penned the following prayer, and I wanted you to have it to use during Advent. It invites God to help you discern all forms of the shadows, and turn clearly and more completely to The Light of Christ.

Lord Jesus,

Master of both the light and the darkness, send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.

We who have so much to do, seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.

We who are anxious over many things, look forward to your coming among us.

We who are blessed in so many ways, long for the complete joy of your kingdom.

We whose hearts are heavy, seek the joy of your presence.

We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.

To you we say, "Come Lord Jesus!" Amen

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

December 5, 2011