It's been a generation or...
Illustration
It's been a generation or two now since the rather foolish tale circulated about one Elroy T. Higgenbottom, a seeming nobody from Indianapolis who had a way of giving others to believe he could get access to anybody he desired. A wealthy friend, who'd known Elroy from their youth, and who knew him to be "just a nobody," decided to call his bluff. He came to visit him one day and said, "I'll bet if I phone the mayor's office he'll laugh at you if you request an appointment." "Go ahead," said Elroy. When the friend got on the phone, the mayor's secretary said, "Can you hold a moment?" After a pause, she came back on the line and said, "The mayor wonders if Elroy could come to lunch."
Thinking it was a fluke, the friend took Elroy with him on a trip to Washington, D.C. It just happened that John F. Kennedy was coming down Pennsylvania Avenue in a motorcade as the two of them were standing on the curb. The entourage came to a screeching halt while Kennedy shouted, "Hi, Elroy! How are things in Indianapolis?"
Stunned, the friend took Elroy with him to the Vatican. As they stood waiting for the pope to appear on his balcony, the friend discovered Elroy had disappeared. The next thing he knew two people were standing on the balcony. And two tourists with British accents started talking. One said, "Who's that man with the white robe and the cross around his neck up on that balcony?" Said the other one, "I don't know, but that guy next to him is Elroy T. Higgenbottom from Indianapolis."
Far-fetched? Naturally. Yet Ephesians promises something even more far-fetched: In Christ we have boldness and confidence of access to the very throne of grace. Who can believe that!
Thinking it was a fluke, the friend took Elroy with him on a trip to Washington, D.C. It just happened that John F. Kennedy was coming down Pennsylvania Avenue in a motorcade as the two of them were standing on the curb. The entourage came to a screeching halt while Kennedy shouted, "Hi, Elroy! How are things in Indianapolis?"
Stunned, the friend took Elroy with him to the Vatican. As they stood waiting for the pope to appear on his balcony, the friend discovered Elroy had disappeared. The next thing he knew two people were standing on the balcony. And two tourists with British accents started talking. One said, "Who's that man with the white robe and the cross around his neck up on that balcony?" Said the other one, "I don't know, but that guy next to him is Elroy T. Higgenbottom from Indianapolis."
Far-fetched? Naturally. Yet Ephesians promises something even more far-fetched: In Christ we have boldness and confidence of access to the very throne of grace. Who can believe that!
