Taking the Time to See

[The Midweek Encounter is a ministry of Encounter Church in Kentwood, MI. These posts are a reflection on Sunday's message, which can be heard here each week: http://www.myencounterchurch.org/#/messages-media]

Whether it’s lingering memories from being picked last or not at all for kickball in elementary school, or more recent moments of feeling like the odd one out because our house or car isn’t up to the same standard as many people we know, we all know what it’s like to feel left out. The particularities of the situation can take many different shapes, but the root—feeling different, unwanted, outcast—remain the same.

In Luke 8 we read the story of a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. Not only did she have to deal with the physical aspects of her ailment, but in that time, this ailment that was completely out of her control would have meant she was socially, physically, and religiously isolated from her community. Far from being the last one picked for the kickball game, she wouldn’t have even been welcome to sit in the stands to watch.

So I can only imagine what was going through this woman’s mind when she heard that Jesus was going to be in the area. She had spent all she had on doctors, trying to find someone who could make her well, so maybe she was thinking that Jesus was her last chance. I had always thought of this story only in physical, medical terms—she had been bleeding for twelve years, and suddenly, she no longer was. But when Jesus healed her, he broke down all the barriers for her—the social, physical, and religious ones. Perhaps she had family and friends who hadn’t talked to her or spent time with her in years, and once she was healed they did again, or maybe she started a completely new life, one she had hardly dared dream of all those years she was sick.

Whatever it was, it all began because Jesus was willing to break down barriers. While the healing took place as soon as the woman touched Jesus' cloak, he took the time to stop. He talked to her at a time when it's likely that very few people were doing the same. He saw her.

In our society, we don't often isolate people in as noticeable of ways as what this woman endured. But it still happens. We've all felt it, and likely even inflicted it at times as well. The question is, are we willing to notice? Will we, like Jesus, stop and take the time to talk to the people no one else seems to want to acknowledge? Will we take the time to really see them, to break down a barrier in whatever small way we can?

[Brianna DeWitt attends Encounter Church and lives, works, and writes in Grand Rapids, MI. You can see more of her musings on her personal blog at http://awritespot.wordpress.com and on Twitter at @bwitt722.]

Grace and Truth

[The Midweek Encounter is a ministry of Encounter Church in Kentwood, MI. These posts are a reflection on Sunday's message, which can be heard here each week: http://www.myencounterchurch.org/#/messages-media]

Christians who represent Christ poorly sure are easy to find, aren't they? I've seen the fruits of their labors all over: in church social circles that are closed off and cliquey, in political Facebook posts, in signs held on street corners. I don't know how you feel when you see these mishandlings of God's reputation, but I often feel embarrassed and hope that no one one associates me personally with such sentiments.

But of course the mishandling of God's reputation happens in my life every day, too. A snide comment about a co-worker makes everyone in the break room uncomfortable. An old college friend sees me snap at my kids and decides not to say a quick “hi” this time. I come in late to church looking frazzled rather than welcoming.

These are times to respond with grace. And truth. And that combination of grace and truth is much more difficult to execute than it might seem.

There was a time back in college my when my social life was, maybe, an 11/10 but my academic life was hovering around, oh, a 2/10. I was enrolled at Calvin College on a Presidential Scholarship, and the scholarship was renewable for four years as long as I maintained a certain GPA. Which, given my social life, obviously did not happen. When my scholarship was revoked after my freshman year, I was called before a committee to explain any extenuating circumstances and to petition for the reinstatement of the award. I told the committee that I had a lovely time participating in dorm activities and that I enjoyed early morning (5:30!) rowing sessions on the Grand River as part of the crew team and that I was in off-season training for lacrosse. I didn't mention that I was also dating a handsome young man who would eventually became my husband, but I did manage to let the committee know that I didn't find all of my courses entirely...useful...or interesting.

The committee had two choices, obviously:

1. Banish me from Calvin forever for being an ignorant, ungrateful, spoiled, entitled youth; or

2. Kindly explain to me what a privilege it was to take philosophy from the Greatest Philosophy Department of the Western Academic World.

Obviously, my scholarship was not reinstated, but I think that's part of the lesson grace and truth. I needed to hear a word about taking my studies seriously, and I definitely needed to be reminded that my tenure at Calvin was made possible through God's grace (and now my four part-time jobs) and that I ought to respond properly with gratitude rather an excuses.

Over the years I have had many opportunities to speak grace and truth into another's life, and sometimes I have done that well, and often I have done that poorly. And when people have offered me a gentle correction, I have sometimes accepted the words well, and often accepted them poorly. But Christ calls us to this, so we must do it. We must offer the truth in grace, and learn to receive it as well. 

[Kristin vanEyk lives and writes in Kentwood, MI where she attends Encounter Church.]

Amelia Bedelia Bible Readers

[The Midweek Encounter is a ministry of Encounter Church in Kentwood, MI. These posts are a reflection on Sunday's message, which can be heard here each week: http://myencounterchurch.org/#/hear-a-message]

As a kid, I loved the Amelia Bedelia books. For a second grade project, I even decorated a pumpkin to look like her, with the classic yellow flowers bordering her bonnet. 

My dad, however, did not love Amelia Bedelia quite so much. As far as children’s books go, the Amelia Bedelia ones tend towards the longer side, which I think was part of the reason my dad didn’t like them. His problem with the books went beyond length though—it was saying “Amelia Bedelia” out loud over and over and over. After a while, he’d start calling her “Emmy Lou” to avoid the bouncing syllables of “Amelia Bedelia.” Having read the books out loud to my niece, I now understand the temptation to do just that.

It seems to me that we often do a similar thing with the Bible. Even as we read Matthew 6:19-24 on Sunday, it struck me that I’ve rarely heard anything about verses 22 and 23. I’ve heard verses 19-21 used as a nice reminder to not seek after the things of this world, and verse 24 often gets quoted in messages about not loving money. But verses 22 and 23 are a bit confusing. They don’t seem to fit with the theme of the passages around them, about where our ultimate treasures should be found. It’s tempting to gloss over them and just carry on with what we can understand. 

The problem is, when we take this approach to the Bible—of turning “Amelia Bedelia” into “Emmy Lou” for the sake of ease—we miss out on really important things. When we dig into Matthew 6:22-23, as Pastor Dirk did on Sunday, we discover it’s about having an open heart, and ultimately a lifestyle of generosity that reflects God’s generosity towards us. Suddenly, its placement among talk of where we store our treasure makes a lot more sense. If our treasure is truly not in the things of this world, it should cause us no pain to be generous with we have—with our money, our talents, our time, and whatever else God has given us. 

Replacing tricky Bible passages with simplified explanations is tempting, but it’s not the way to learn what God is really teaching us. When we refuse to gloss over the difficult verses and really dig into them, we can find that everything around it begins to make more sense as well. 

[Brianna DeWitt attends Encounter Church and lives, works, and writes in Grand Rapids, MI. You can see more of her musings on her personal blog at http://awritespot.wordpress.com and on Twitter at @bwitt722.]