When Does Day Begin?

trshelly@lipscomb.edu (Rubel Shelly) — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 02:00:00 -0500

So how soon is it till dawn?

You probably get discouraged about events in the news too. Terrorism. Family violence. Unemployment. Economic uncertainty. Some of the scary news may even be closer to home than the newspaper. Health problems. Damaged personal relationships. Friction among people in your church. It can be discouraging. And just whose responsibility is it to make things better? If your first thought is God, I would not propose to correct your answer. I would only remind you that God acts in this world through human agents. There is an old Hasidic story about a rabbi and his students. As they walked along one day, he asked, "How can we know the hour of dawn - the time at which the night ends and the day begins?" No one ventured an immediate answer, so they continued to walk. Then one of the rabbi's disciples offered something. "Is it when you can look from some distance and distinguish between a wolf and a sheep?" "No," said the rabbi. And they continued to walk. "Is it when there is light enough to distinguish between a grapevine and a thorn bush?" ventured another student. "No," said the rabbi. There was a long silence. "Please tell us the answer to your question," said one. "How is it possible to know the precise time at which the dawn has broken?" "The dawn comes for each of us," said the wise old teacher, "when we can look into the face of another human being and - by virtue of the light that comes from within us - recognize that even a stranger is our brother or sister. Until then, it is night. Until then, the night is still with us." Self-centered lives are cramped, provincial, and sad. It is only those souls large enough to live for others that are expansive with joy and bright with love. Love is, in fact, the only spiritual power great enough to overcome the selfishness that seems to be instinctive to being alive. There is so much darkness. Let's pray for the dawn to come.

Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard (Isaiah 58:8 RSV).

About the author: Rubel Shelly preached for decades and served as a professor of medical ethics, Bible, and philosophy at multiple universities. He was a former president of Rochester College and Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Lipscomb University. He was the author of more than 30 books and hundreds of inspirational articles. His commitment to a non-sectarian presentation of the gospel touched countless lives.

I Don't Want Them to Change Me!

alansmith.servant@gmail.com (Alan Smith) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 02:00:00 -0500

Why keep doing what you're doing?

Elie Wiesel was brought up in a closely knit Jewish community in Sighet, Transylvania (Romania). When he was fifteen years old, his family was herded aboard a train and deported by Nazis to the Auschwitz death camp. Wiesel's mother and younger sister died at Auschwitz - his two older sisters survived. Wiesel and his father were then taken to Buchenwald, where his father also perished. Wiesel has devoted his life to ensuring that the world does not forget the atrocities of the Nazis, and that they are not repeated. He tells this story:

A just man decided he must save humanity. So he chose a city, the most sinful of all cities. Then he studied. He learned all the art of moving people, changing minds, changing hearts. He came to a man and woman and said, "Don't forget that murder is not good, it is wrong." In the beginning, people gathered around him. It was so strange, somewhat like a circus. They gathered and they listened. He went on and on and on. Days passed. Weeks passed. After a while, they stopped listening. After many years passed, a child stopped him and said, "What are you doing? Don't you see nobody is listening? Why do you continue shouting and shouting? Why?" And the man answered the child, "I'll tell you why. In the beginning, I was convinced that if I were to shout loud enough, they would change. Now I know they won't change. But if I shout even louder, it's because I don't want them to change me."

We live in a world where there is a battle going on. I'm not talking about the conflict in Iraq or Afghanistan or Kenya. You may not even be aware that this battle is taking place, but I assure you that it is. It is a spiritual battle being waged between God and his people and Satan and his people (Ephesians 6:12). It is a battle for the control of the hearts and minds of men and women, including you and the people around you. We sometimes use the word "evangelism" to describe our attempt to influence ungodly people in a way that will draw them to God, the God who created them and loves them. But, we sometimes forget that efforts - sometimes diligent efforts - are being made by ungodly forces to pull us away from God. Be assured of this: One of two things is happening, either you are having an influence on other people or other people are having an influence on you. It's a constant battle, much like a tug-of-war. And there are times, as in the story above, when we need to speak up or take some action, not so much to change others, but to prevent others from changing us.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:1-2 NKJV).

About the author: Alan Smith ministers with the Church of Christ in White House, Tennessee and publishes the email devotional "Thought for the Day."

Father Forgive Them!

phil@heartlight.org (Phil Ware) — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 02:00:00 -0500

How can we do this? How can we not?

[Jesus said] This, then, is how you should pray:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one,
for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
(Matthew 6:9-13 with traditional ending from the TNIV).

The familiar words of the Lord's Prayer have been inspiring and instructive for Jesus' followers for centuries. Yet what is gently implied in one line of the Lord's Prayer - "... forgive us... as we also have forgiven..." - strikes us like a thunderbolt in the verses that follow:

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins (Matthew 6:14-15).

This is a shattering truth! We will be forgiven only to the extent we are willing to forgive! We can dry up the grace flowing to our hearts by being graceless toward others! But, how can this be? How can our forgiveness be conditional on anything? Doesn't the Father realize how badly these people have hurt us? Why does Jesus place such a high value on us forgiving those who have wounded and wronged us? Doesn't he know what they've done to us - betrayed, abandoned, cheated, ridiculed, mocked, and rejected us? Maybe we misunderstood the message from Jesus? Maybe with some high-sounding theological gyrations we can work ourselves around the sharp realities of Jesus' words. However, when we listen to Jesus' teaching, he makes clear he is serious about our being a people of radical forgiveness. Jesus told a story about an unmerciful servant who had been forgiven a huge debt he could never repay, yet this servant was unwilling to forgive a large - but repayable - debt owed him by a co-servant (Matthew 18:21-35). Jesus' words are chilling as he makes clear the meaning of his story:

Then the master called the servant in. "You wicked servant," he said, "I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?" In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart (Matthew 18:32-35).

Jesus wants us to know that God is serious about forgiveness! When we examine other passages in the New Testament, we hear this same recurring theme. The apostle Paul challenged Christians to use the example of God and the sacrifice of Jesus as their models of forgiveness:

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Ephesians 4:30-5:2).

Paul uses similar teaching with a community of new believers in Colossae (Colossians 3:12-14). A great example of this kind of radical forgiveness is Stephen, who was stoned to death by his religious enemies. His words, uttered shortly before his death as vicious attackers pounded the life out of him with large stones, are both powerful and convicting:

While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep (Acts 7:59).

These words are a powerful reminder of the high calling Jesus' followers have: we are to forgive as generously as Jesus forgave... not just us, but even those who were responsible for his torturous death. Stephen's words echo the Lord's words at the crucifixion. Jesus was arrested and beaten. He was unfairly tried and scourged. He was mocked by the religious authorities, the crowd, soldiers, and one of the criminals crucified next to him (Luke 23:32-39). Yet in the middle of humanity's worst moments, we see one of heaven's greatest gifts. Jesus simply, yet amazingly, said: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). While many truths have been derived from this saying, two seem most clear:

God is willing to forgive you and me! If he so freely forgave his tormentors at the cross - those who mocked him, beat him, scourged him, gambled for his clothing, ridiculed him, and watched as those in power sought to humiliate and degrade him through the public spectacle of crucifixion - he can forgive us if we will come to him and receive this grace (Romans 5:6-11).
God is calling us to be a radical community... a Kingdom of God community... a community of radical forgiveness and grace... just like our hero and Savior was Lord of forgiveness and grace. We don't remember the cross of Jesus as casual spectators or a bunch of rubberneckers who have paused to watch another gory enactment of human blood lust. No, we remember the cross as the place of grace and we hear the call to be gracious. To be unforgiving to others is to forfeit Jesus' words for us and stop up the redeeming conduit of grace that is supposed to flow from God, through us, to others.

"Father, forgive them... " Jesus said it. Stephen repeated it. How can we not ask God to do the same thing with those who have wronged us?

About the author: Phil Ware has authored 11 years of daily devotionals, including VerseoftheDay.com, read by 500,000 people a day. He works with churches in transition with Interim Ministry Partners and for the past 21+ years, he has been editor and president of HEARTLIGHT Magazine, author of VerseoftheDay.com, God's Holy Fire (on the Holy Spirit), and aYearwithJesus.com. Phil has also authored four books, daily devotionals on each of the four gospels.

Grace

copej@acu.edu (Joey Cope) — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 02:00:00 -0500

How do you understand it?

But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us ... made us alive together with Christ ... so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:4-7 NRSV)

A special bond exists between my wife, Nancy, and our granddaughter, Landrye. That's how it should be. After all, Nancy has invested hours and hours in Landrye. Trips to school and Bible class, board games, zoo and museum trips, pretend games, books read, songs sung, and those indescribable moments that come only when one person is just there for someone else. And so these two very important people in my life share a relationship that gladdens me and delights me. I am a spectator to a wondrous glimpse of God - seen in the way they brighten in each other's presence. I'm not in that special grandmother-granddaughter club. Yet, Landrye's love overflows to me through small things. Like this morning, when she took my hand on the way into church and chose a seat by me. And in her insistence that I ride in the back seat with her as Nancy chauffeured us to the pizza parlor. And when she looked to me as a mythical champion of arcade games - a reputation earned by the lucky punch of a button that landed a jackpot of 250 tickets. And the way she says "Grampa" and giggles at my silliness. That overflow washes over me constantly. And it matters little whether I have earned Landrye's attention. She gladly lavishes it on me. I've spent a lifetime trying to grasp the concept of God's grace. Could it be that I am finally gaining my best understanding through the smile and the hugs of a five-year old angel?

About the author: Joey Cope (Dr. Joe L. Cope) is the executive director of the Center for Conflict Resolution at Abilene Christian University. He teaches graduate courses in advanced conflict management, negotiation and mediation. The work of the Center includes mediation/intervention services and educational offerings through seminars, conferences and special courses designed for businesses, non-profit organizations, and churches. Cope is an attorney and received his certificate in dispute resolution from Pepperdine University School of Law. Cope is an elder of the Highland Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas.

Featured Articles from Heartlight

When Does Day Begin?

I Don't Want Them to Change Me!

Father Forgive Them!

Grace