Now What?

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

We embarked on our first Bupp-Family-Real-Christmas-Tree-Adventure this year. As a kid, I remember hours of hunting (and forty lost mittens) to find the perfectly formed tree. Perhaps as a reaction to all of those hours, or because our kids are so small and it was so cold, we cut down the third tree we considered. It seemed perfect. Inside our house it was…different. It was MUCH larger and wider and crookeder and taller and everything-er than it seemed outside. It is spectacular.

How does a tree grow into a shape like this!? The biologist in me has considered all of the formational influences that molded the tree into its shape: shifting soil, weather, critters, pruning, and the surrounding trees. All the time, by so many devices, the tree was formed into this fantastic shape as it grew.

The same is true of us as well – we are always being formed by something.

We are formed by our family, by culture and the media, and when we’re intentional, by the Bible, the church, and our community. The seasons of advent and Christmas offer easier opportunities to be formed by Christ. So many things regularly turn our minds toward Christ and His coming; Christmas carols everywhere from malls to church, and advent devotionals and reading plans on the Bible App that seem to go hand in hand with lights and ornaments. Without much effort, many of us are enjoying a season of being formed into the image of Christ.

But now my vacuum bag has more needles than the tree branches do; Christmas is over. Derek reminded us this week that when we arrive in this after-Christmas-lull, most of us ask – whether we realize it or not – Now what? We’ve enjoyed being shaped by God over the last month, how can that continue?

God broke into the dark and sent His Light. The Word came, and He made His dwelling among us. Hope is alive. Now what?

Now we are called into holiness, into godliness, into a deeper and fuller and more life-invading relationship with Jesus; He is dwelling with us. Now we pray for the Holy Spirit to continue the work of formation, instead of packing it up with the ornaments. Now we seek to have not only our Decembers formed by Jesus Christ, but our Januarys and Februarys and Julys as well!  

Now we get uncomfortable.

Derek reminded us, from Colossians 3:12-17, that formation and discipleship happen within community. As we find a sense of belonging with each other, we learn the stories of God’s faithfulness to His people historically, and to His people today, and our hope grows. In community, we are called and equipped to transform the world to the glory of God.

This kind of community – faith forming community – is beautiful and necessary; but to engage in it, we’ll have to get uncomfortable. So many of us look for and long for community, and are frustrated when we feel without it; but we seem to want community to magically happen to us while everything else about our lives remains unchanged. I’m so comfortable in my usual routines, in my normal avenues of faith (and let’s be honest, on my couch doing nothing about my faith!). The idea of intentionally getting uncomfortable and out of routine to make room for new community, for new ways of being formed and discipled (and for forming and discipling others!) seems intrusive.

  

Smiling and saying hello to acquaintances over the coffee pots is comfortable, and gravitating to our close friends on Sunday morning feels safe. Making new friends can seem intimidating, especially if they are older or younger or have kids (or don’t!), and it can seem uncomfortably vulnerable to share a story of God’s work in your life right now with any friends, new or old. Sunday morning is the normal routine; a weeknight for Bible study or kitchen group or another ministry will cramp your style. And the older we get, the more uncomfortable it is to admit that we are still being formed; it’s far more comfortable to let our faith remain unchanged and unchallenged.

As we clear away the manger scenes and tinsel, can we also clear room in our lives to meaningfully engage with our church family? Are we willing to get uncomfortable, to be people intentionally seeking formation and discipleship as a community?

Our Christmas tree won’t fit back through the front door, so I’m getting ready to throw it off the deck next week; it makes me think of the things I’ll need to throw out of my heart that get in the way of real, deep community: the fear that makes me hold back parts of myself, the self-reliance that prevents me from reaching out, the selfishness that makes me want to stay home and do my own thing. None of my excuses are worth missing out on the fuller life that Christ offers to us within the body of believers.

Jesus has come; Emmanuel, God with us, is here in our midst. Now what?

Now we clear the clutter from our hearts and schedules and deliberately engage in formational community; now we embrace discomfort until community becomes our routine. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, let’s help each other be formed more and more into the image of Christ. 

[Robin Bupp is married to Caleb, and they are from many places east of the Mississippi (but are calling Michigan home for the foreseeable future). A former high school science teacher, Robin is slowly turning the two Bupp kiddos into tiny nerds while they teach her lots of things, especially humility and patience.]

Sinners and Kings

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

When I think of King David, my thoughts turn to a story that many of us were told as children: David and Goliath. As a young shepherd, David had the courage of a well-seasoned soldier; he fully trusted in God’s power to conquer Goliath the Philistine in battle with only a sling and five stones.

“David said to the Philistine, 'You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.'” (1 Samuel 17:45)

David is often remembered as a soldier and courageous warrior of God, but the genealogy of Jesus points to him for another reason. While Jesus did come from the line of a King, he also came from a line of sinners just like us. The genealogy in Matthew specifically pointed to characters in the Bible with not-so-noteworthy pasts such as Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth. Their stories, like David’s, are ones that contain points of shame, deceit, and pain. 

Photo Credit: Flickr User trainjason, Creative Commons

As we anticipate Christmas this week, it’s easy to look at the line of Jesus and see that he was a descendant of courageous King David, obedient Father Abraham, and his loving mother Mary. While these traits and people certainly reflect Jesus’s character as the Son of God, maybe we should also focus on the shameful pasts that arise in His genealogy.

David was an adulterer, a murderer, and a liar. He sacrificed the friendship and life of Uriah in order to cover up his mistakes involving Bathsheba. David went to all lengths to maintain a false sense of honor and dignity as King, even when his actions were directly sinning against God. Instead of confessing before God and before his friend Uriah, he decided to move forward in secrecy. His diligence to hide his discretions was in vain because the prophet Nathan discovered his sins.

It was at this point, when he had nothing to hide, that David finally confessed his sins and penned the beautiful Psalm 51, including this famous verse, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).

Just as David confessed his sins before God and in the presence of the prophet Nathan, we must also confess our sins. While God is the only One who can offer ultimate forgiveness, our fellow believers can offer help in the process of healing. Our brothers and sisters in Christ can help us find a reason to change and act differently in the future.

As James 5:16 says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

As we celebrate Christmas this year, let us remember that Jesus came from a line of Kings, but also from a line of sinners. He encourages us to confess our sins before Him and before our fellow believers in order to live fully in accordance with His plan for our lives. Let us pray for one another this Christmas—that we might recognize our own limitations and rely fully on the power and grace of Jesus to be healed. God brought peace to earth through His Son on Christmas—let us pray that we are open to fully receive that peace through His forgiveness and the power of the Holy Spirit that brings change in our lives. What secrets are you holding onto? Prayerfully consider sharing these with family or a close friend this holiday season; confess your sins, share your secrets, and invite Jesus to begin change in your life.

*If you are looking for a song that is relevant to this week’s message, check out “Healing Begins” by Tenth Avenue North: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe1yKciSlT4

[Megan Stephenson is a recent graduate of Grand Valley State University and works for a private education group in Grand Rapids as an Assistant Registrar. She loves spending time with her husband, Ben, trying out new breweries, restaurants, and local attractions. She also self-identifies as a crazy cat lady, despite owning no cats of her own, thanks to her loving and allergic husband.]

Christmas is All Around

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

If I had written the book of Matthew, I would not have started it with a genealogy. A long list of hard to pronounce names is hardly an effective way to suck people into a story. Most of the time, I skip right over it. As we’ve been learning in this message series though, the people in Jesus’ family line have interesting stories of their own, and if we skip over them, we miss out on a lot. Jesus wasn’t born out of nowhere--his backstory and family tree are very important. From long before Mary gave birth to Jesus, God was at work, crafting everything together the way he wanted in order to bring Jesus into the world at a specific time and place to fulfill his purpose. Christmas was all around long before anyone else knew there would ever be a holiday to celebrate. 

Photo Credit: Flickr User regan76, Creative Commons

The book of Ruth starts out rather bleak. There’s a famine, so Elimelek, his wife Naomi, and their two sons move to Moab in hopes of finding a better life there. Then Elimelek dies, and after a while, both sons do too, leaving behind their wives. Naomi decides she’s had enough and moves back to the land of Judah. In a bright moment in an otherwise pretty dark story so far, her daughter-in-law Ruth insists on staying with her, saying, “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.” Life isn’t easy for them when they return though, and Naomi changes her name to Mara, meaning “bitter.” 


When we’re reading this story, it’s tempting to rush to the next chapter to find out what happens next--and in fact, Naomi and Ruth do get happy plot twists. But they didn’t know that when they returned to Judah. They couldn’t flip ahead to see how their stories would end; they had to live them, just like we do. 

It can be easy to get lost in the day-to-day details of living, especially this time of year, as we scurry to make lists, buy presents, show up at the parties on time, and try to enjoy it all as well. Added into the mix are the bigger emotions holidays and the end of the year bring about--maybe it’s sorrow at losing someone we love, regret over a bad decision, or disappointment when things didn’t turn out like we had hoped. When we’re plodding through the middle of our stories, trying to simply keep moving from one day to the next and get some presents under the tree, it can be hard to see God at work. Like Naomi, we may feel bitter, not seeing how a famine, losing family members, and multiple moves could somehow be a part of something bigger. We may want to look ahead, to see what’s coming next, to get ourselves prepared for the bad stuff and breath a sigh of relief and excitement at all of the good to come. 


While we can’t look ahead at our own lives, we do have the rest of Ruth and Naomi’s story at least. Ruth ends up marrying Boaz, the “kinsman-redeemer” of Naomi’s family. They all become part of the lineage of the greatest redeemer, Jesus. Throughout Naomi and Ruth’s trials, Christmas was already all around--God truly was at work, prepping for Christmas years and years in advance. In the same way, God is at work in our lives as well, preparing beginnings and middles and endings to stories we may not even be aware of yet. 

As we prepare for Christmas next week, may we be able to see and appreciate the ways that God is at work all around us. 


[Brianna DeWitt is a Christmas enthusiast. She believes in Jesus, surrounding yourself with good people, and that desserts are best when they involve chocolate and peanut butter. She writes about faith, growing up, and whatever else pops into her head on her own blog, and tweets (largely about food) at @bwitt722.]

Labels

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

As high school ended, I had high hopes for a fresh start in college, dropping all of the labels and reputations that had stuck to me after thirteen years of school. No longer would I be the clumsy, forgetful, sweaty, weird nerd; I would be…awesome. Unsurprisingly, most of my labels followed me, and plenty more were tacked on. (Don’t worry, I got a prescription for “sweaty!”)  

And those were just the external labels. The internal ones - the labels I apply to myself when I see my weaknesses, shortcomings, and sins that no one else sees – those labels are even harder to change!

Pastor Dirk shared the story of Rahab this week, an ancestor of Christ (Matthew 1:5). When we first meet her (in Joshua 2) many labels could have been applied to Rahab - foreigner, outcast - but there’s one that seems bigger and stickier than the others: prostitute. Everywhere she’s mentioned in the Bible, Rahab is identified by this label. Maybe Rahab was a super common name, and prostitution is her distinguishing characteristic (as opposed to Rahab the athlete, Rahab the short and Rahab the sweaty). Or maybe this is a hard label to shed.

When I’m faced with my own shameful labels, I tend to want to hide from them. I hope others don’t notice them; I manage my image to make it appear as though I only have desirable labels.

Rahab didn’t pretend to be something she wasn’t when the spies showed up at her door. She knew that God was God over everything, and that these were His ambassadors, yet she was honest about who she was. Think how differently the story would have ended for her if Rahab attempted to remove her label or cover it before these godly men; she could have said, “I can’t invite you men into my home; my husband/father isn’t here and it isn’t proper. You’ll have to find somewhere else.” Instead, being Rahab the prostitute allowed her to be uniquely helpful to the spies; God redeemed her broken and damaging labels, and relabeled her righteous (James 2:25) and faithful (Hebrews11:31); a daughter in His family. God took what had been broken and evil and redeemed it for His purposes. She was able to protect the spies, and provide them with information and a safe exit strategy.  

God offers the same label-exchange to us. His offer of forgiveness and righteousness reaches out to all of us who are in Him. But when we cover up, when we try to hide all of our brokenness and sin and labels before Him, we miss His redemption. David describes this issue poetically in Psalm 32. Verses 3-4 describe what it feels like to hide sin - the mental anguish of acting fine when we are a mess. Then, in verse 5, he says,

Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’ – and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”

David found that in uncovering his sin before God, he experienced the freedom of forgiveness and healing as God covered his sin. A common misconception is that Christians are all cleaned up and therefore ready to face God. Here, we are rightly reminded that we all come to God covered in sin, and He makes us right. David says, “How joyful is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” (Psalm 32:1, HCSB) When David stopped pretending to be clean, God covered his sin and removed the label, and he was clean!

In the New Testament, we read that Jesus died for us not when we were righteous, but while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). He declares us righteous because of our faith in Jesus, not because we keep the rules (Romans 3:21-22); He clothes us in Christ and adopts us as sons (Galatians 3:26-29). When I try to cover my sin myself and act righteous, I don’t enjoy His forgiveness.  If I hide my struggles, I don’t enjoy His redemption!  

He can speak truth over what we uncover. He can fix the brokenness we confess.

Ruth’s story has a fantastic epilogue; she is ancestor to King David and to the King of all Kings! I think it’s striking that even in the New Testament, Rahab is still identified as a prostitute (Hebrews 11:31). Why does God, in His holy word, draw attention to her former label?

Is it perhaps because He wants us to remember that He can rewrite even this label? In remembering who Rahab had been, we see God’s abundant and lavish grace. Even Rahab the prostitute is counted faithful and righteous!  

As the season of Advent reminds us of Christ’s coming, let’s take some time to dig into our hearts and see what dark spots need to be illuminated by God’s light. Do we manage our image before God? Where are we attempting to appear righteous, where are we hiding our sin and weakness? Let’s bring those things before Him in confession and repentance, and ask Him to relabel and redeem us.

His labels are more powerful than ours: We are his loved children, declared righteous (1 John 3:1, 2 Corinthians 5:21).

[Robin Bupp is married to Caleb, and they are from many places east of the Mississippi (but are calling Michigan home for the foreseeable future). A former high school science teacher, Robin is slowly turning the two Bupp kiddos into tiny nerds while they teach her lots of things, especially humility and patience.]

Stories That Ought to Be Told: Grace

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

As a member of the Millennial generation, I was told that if I believed in myself, I could achieve the impossible and become whoever I wanted to be. The key ingredients to professional and personal success are passion, determination, and hard work—right? If I really find my passion, then God will be able to work through me. If I put in a few more long days at the office, then my boss will award me the well-deserved promotion. If I really focus on the positive traits of my spouse, then it will be easy to work through this tough time in our marriage. There are these "if-then" statements that seem to define how we view ourselves—as if our wisdom and power are infinitely capable of achieving success, and maybe even salvation, in our own lives. 

Photo Credit: Flickr User Brad.K, Creative Commons

In the story of Judah told in Genesis, the character creates his own "if-then" statements to live by. If I sell my brother Joseph, then I will be rich and my father will no longer have a favorite son. If I instruct Tamar to live as a widow, then I am fulfilling my duty as her father-in-law. If I sleep with a temptress in secret, then the sin will not affect my household. These statements are the foundation for the lies and secrets that Judah seems to spin around himself; these lies give him no need for a Savior, as he is taking matters into his own hands. It is in Judah's nature to seek the short-term fulfillment that requires little work or sacrifice, and not to seek the possible long-term joy that is given by the Father.

Don't we often act the same way? Our secrets and lies hide a complicated web of short-term fulfillments, "if-then" statements, and unavoidable failures. We tell ourselves that hard work will save our marriage, our jobs, our families. We find ourselves standing in Judah's shoes during his moment of realization: Tamar, a trickster daughter-in-law, is even more righteous than himself. His lies and secrets could no longer protect him, and this moment of realization with Tamar paved the way for his reunion with Joseph. It led Judah to recognize the sin in the depths of his heart, that he was the kind of man unable to offer forgiveness and prone to ignite anger. In that moment, as Judah and his brothers stood before Joseph in Egypt, we saw grace show up in Jesus' lineage.

In Genesis 50:20 Joseph states, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."

There is grace that extends to those of us who find security in the lies that say we don't need God to fix our marriage, to mend our families, to heal our hearts. God's grace finds us there, even in the darkest moments, like when Judah sold his own brother to slavery or banished his own daughter-in-law to become a widow. This scandalous grace is what makes the genealogy of Jesus so powerful—his love and grace cover the broken tax collectors like Matthew, the unforgiving men like Judah, and the sinners like us.

Let's reflect again on these words from the song "Scandal of Grace":

The day and its trouble shall come
I know that Your strength is enough
The scandal of grace, You died in my place
So my soul will live

We are called to recognize our own limitations, where determination and hard work fail, but where Jesus's strength prevails. These are the stories that ought to be told amongst our brothers and sisters in the church—stories of forgiveness, grace, and redemption. We should share these moments when we realize that we are not enough, that our hard work, determination, and passion just won't cut it this time. We share in our collective brokenness and in the forgiveness and grace given by the one and only Savior, Jesus Christ. 


[Megan Stephenson is a recent graduate of Grand Valley State University and works for a private education group in Grand Rapids as an Assistant Registrar. She loves spending time with her husband, Ben, trying out new breweries, restaurants, and local attractions. She also self-identifies as a crazy cat lady, despite owning no cats of her own, thanks to her loving and allergic husband.]

How to be Thankful

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

“What would you do with a million dollars?”

It’s an interesting question to think about, and can be a good conversation starter in awkward settings. Most of us will never be given a million dollars, but our answers can reveal something deeper about us. First maybe we think we’d just get out of debt. Then maybe a new house, new car, new TV. Then maybe just one trip. It reveals how easy it is to go down the road of, “If I only had a little bit more.”

Photo Credit: Flickr User cambodia4kidsorg, Creative Commons

It can be like this with our actual resources as well--we think how nice it would be to reach a certain level of comfort, and once we’re there, we find ourselves thinking how nice it would be to reach the next level, and so on. Whether we actually have the money is only part of the problem--the real issue is our desire to always have more than what we currently have.

1 Timothy 6:17-18 points out the flaw in this kind of thinking, and provides an unexpected suggestion for how to combat it (emphasis added):

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.

Our thoughts shouldn’t be tied up in what we have or what we’d like to have someday. Any kind of wealth, whether it’s financial, relational, or anything else, is ultimately fleeting--our true hope can only be found in God. When we realize where any good gifts we do have come from, we should be thankful for the opportunity we have to experience them for a while. That thankfulness should then cause us to move. Because we aren’t commanded to be rich in things, but in good deeds.

“What would you do with a million good deeds?” isn’t a conversation starting question I’ve ever heard, but unlike a million dollars, it’s something more of us might actually be able to achieve. Our acts of service can be an expression of our thankfulness to God for what he’s done and what he’s blessed us with.

If we let it, our thankfulness can move us to tangible, life-saving action. I love the way The Message translation phrases II Corinthians 9:12-14:

Carrying out this social relief work involves far more than helping meet the bare needs of poor Christians. It also produces abundant and bountiful thanksgivings to God. This relief offering is a prod to live at your very best, showing your gratitude to God by being openly obedient to the plain meaning of the Message of Christ. You show your gratitude through your generous offerings to your needy brothers and sisters, and really toward everyone.

One major cause that’s on the minds of many these days is the Syrian refugee crisis, where millions of people are fleeing their homes in fear of war and violence. There are no easy or quick solutions to a problem of this magnitude. However, as we look at the good things we have in our own lives and take the words in 1 Timothy to heart, “to be generous and willing to share,” we may realize we have ways to share that can help people who are fleeing their homes in crisis. Bethany Christian Services has been helping to resettle refugees from all over the world since 1998. There are a variety of ways to get involved with their refugee resettlement programs, some of which can be found here and here.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, let’s not do so only by gathering with family and friends and eating a lot, but by letting our thankfulness turn to action.

[Brianna DeWitt believes in Jesus, surrounding yourself with good people, and that desserts are best when they involve chocolate and peanut butter. She writes about faith, growing up, and whatever else pops into her head on her own blog, and tweets (largely about food) at @bwitt722.]

Superpower

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

As a kid, I never thought I could be Superman. Superman stories are exciting, and I liked imagining running super fast or jumping super high or flying; but even as a child I knew super-powers were impossible. Superman was a super-man and not just-a-human like me.

As a young Christian, I knew I didn’t have super-faith. I loved hearing stories about people God called to exotic places and people, or who planted churches in desperate and desolate areas, but I was barely able to curtail my swearing or stop being obsessed with finding a boyfriend. Giving up everything I knew for Him was inconceivable. People who lived their lives out on the edge of faith seemed to have super-faith. My faith had no cape.

If foreign missionaries have super-faith, Abraham seems to have super-mutant-faith. Pastor Ricardo preached from Genesis 22 this week, where God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. How could I ever have faith like that?!

My faith has grown from its early, tenuous state; the longer I walk with God, the deeper my trust and belief, and I can say yes when He calls me to challenging things. Still, I think I would come up short if God said, “Robin…I need you to sacrifice you daughter, Matilda, to me.” It wouldn’t be the quick obedience we see from Abraham! I look around for his cape, wondering how he could agree to sacrifice his son; how could he be a regular guy who believes God the same way I try to?

Out of context, Abraham might look like a superhero, but in context, he looks like a normal, fallen, messed up human who is stumbling forward as he learns to trust God more. The rest of Abraham’s story (which you can find starting in Genesis 12), reminds us that Abraham was a real man; he believed God and acted in faith, but at times he stumbled around like the rest of us. He lied to try to protect his wife, and when God seemed slow, he attempted to make God’s will happen his own way. Abraham had faith filled moments, and moments of self-reliance. Through a lifetime of believing God, Abraham’s faith grew and was strengthened as he acted on his belief and saw God.

Perhaps most notably, Abraham’s faith was built by God’s amazing blessing and impossible goodness when he and Sarah gave birth to a son, the heir God had promised. Sarah was ancient – ninety years old! – when Isaac was born. Isaac’s birth wasn’t unlikely or improbable; it was miraculous. God had shown Abraham more than once that He was who He said He was, and He was able to do anything He said He would do. Every belief-fueled act of obedience grew Abraham’s faith.

So this real man - this father who loved the only son he had, the son who was the promise of God, and the promise of blessing for the world – was asked by God to take that son, and sacrifice him.

And in faith, Abraham agrees:

“He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” Genesis 22:5

We will come back, not I. Abraham believed that he AND Isaac would be returning. He had walked with God. He knew God. God had promised that through Isaac Abraham’s offspring would be reckoned (Genesis 21:12). Isaac was tangible proof that nothing is impossible with God. Abraham trusted God –he had faith that whatever happened on the mountain, he would obey, and God would provide.

Consider how Hebrews 11:17-19 explains Abraham’s reasoning:

“By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned,” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.” 

Abraham wasn’t gifted with supernatural faith to respond in a way that we are unable. His faith had no cape. He didn’t hear God’s call out of nowhere and then blindly wander up a mountain wondering what would happen next. Abraham had walked with God for years; he knew his God. He knew his God was bigger than he could imagine; God had already done impossible things in Abraham’s life.

So Abraham obeyed.

And the Lord provided.

This story is about the faith of a regular human, but the power and faithfulness of a limitless God.  

God provided the sacrifice; God credited Abraham’s faith-filled actions as righteous. God made a way to spare Isaac’s life through the death of another. God showed Himself on the mountain top. Galatians 3:8 says that He preached the gospel to Abraham: a Father with only One Son, whom He loved, would sacrifice that Son so that many lives would be saved; blessing would come to the nations through Abraham’s offspring when Christ tasted death for everyone to bring His many sons and daughters to glory. (Hebrews 2:9-10)

Abraham’s faith was not super hero faith. Abraham’s God was the superpower God.

We don’t need super-faith to be like Abraham; we need to know our God, and walk with Him. When we know Him, we will believe Him for things only He can do. 

[Robin Bupp is married to Caleb, and they are from many places east of the Mississippi (but are calling Michigan home for the foreseeable future). A former high school science teacher, Robin is slowly turning the two Bupp kiddos into tiny nerds while they teach her lots of things, especially humility and patience.]

The Two Sons

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

When I hear Jesus begin a parable with, “a man had two sons…” I immediately want to divide those sons into the “right” one and the “wrong” one.  Maybe it’s my tendency to prefer absolutes: black and white, good and evil.  Maybe it’s my desire to figure out which one I do, or should, align myself with. Thankfully Jesus never paints with just black and white, he has the whole color palate to use, as he showcases in this depiction of God’s love and our humanity. 

The father in this parable represents God, so let’s focus on the sons. We are his sons – humanity - God’s creation beginning with Adam, promised as the seeds of Abraham, governed under the Mosaic law which comes to fulfillment in Christ.  As we try to figure out which son we are, let’s look more closely at the ways they are similar, and what we can learn from their examples.

The sons knew their father; they were aware of his wealth, they knew they could come to him with concerns, and they had some concept of his kindness.  Yet each, in different ways, chose to treat their father poorly.  At the beginning of the story, the younger son essentially wished death on his father so that he could inherit his wealth. 

Photo Credit: Flickr user Nicholas Raymonds

After the younger son squanders the wealth finally returns, the father celebrates his return. The celebration ignites the older son’s feelings of anger and entitlement; he is so filled with contempt at his father’s generosity that he cannot celebrate with them.  

There is uniformity when we look at the father’s treatment of his two sons.  He loved them both enough to allow them to make their own decisions, even if those decisions brought pain and dissatisfaction.  The father also actively pursued both sons.  He was waiting for the younger son to return and ran to meet him. He broke cultural norms to leave the celebration and seek out the older son; typically a host in that time would not leave his own party. And he was equally generous and offered both sons complete reconciliation.      

If both sons, at their core, are sinful and ungrateful, and if we see the father as uniformly loving and forgiving, how do we make sense of the two totally different reactions of the two sons?  The first son reaps the pain and dissatisfaction of his poor decisions and ultimately begs for compassion from his father.  In contrast, the parable ends with the second son standing outside the party stewing in bitterness and judgement.  We don’t get to see a change of heart from him, but the story has no final scene.  Jesus leaves us in this dissonance to digest this story.

We are all sinners – the Bible tells us that we are, and a careful check out our thoughts and actions over the last day or even the last hour confirm it.  We are born apart from God, unable to bridge the gap to His holiness except through the saving grace of Jesus dying on the cross.  Our God is totally holy yet He is reckless with his love and grace as he extends salvation to each and every one of us.  We are the sons and he is the father.  What will our decision be?  This is the ultimate yes or no question.  There is no middle ground here, no chance to see it in anything but absolutes.  Our Heavenly Father runs to us and extends His loving arms – what will we do?  Fall on our knees and make reconciliation or turn and walk away?

Perhaps you are nodding in agreement, confident that Christ’s forgiveness in your life that has made you right before God. Consider these questions:

·         When others seem to receive abundant blessing while you are just plugging away at life, do you feel the older son’s questions creeping in?

·         Do your thoughts, prayers and actions for those who are chasing the world mirror the Father’s, longing actively for their return to His family; or do you find yourself in the self-righteous mindset of the older son?

·         If our Heavenly Father is a prodigal God, offering forgiveness and grace recklessly and completely to all who humble themselves and ask for it – how should we as His children be transformed by this in every moment of our Earthly lives?

·         Are you as reckless with love, grace and forgiveness as your Father?

[Caleb Bupp is married to Robin, and is originally from Pittsburgh. He spends most of his time as a geneticist, but thought it might be fun to try writing this blog. He likes the Steelers, pickles, running and classic movies.]

Praying Like We Believe It

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

Prayer sounds like it should be so easy. I find talking to other humans relatively easy most of the time, so why does it suddenly become so hard when the other part of the equation is a deity and not a human? If anything, shouldn’t that be easier, since I know God is kind of required to listen to me and to care about what I’m saying? Instead though, I find myself hesitating to ask for certain things, forgetting or neglecting to pray altogether, and constantly wondering whether my prayers are going anywhere at all.

Photo Credit: Flickr User snowpeak, Creative Commons

Reading passages like Luke 18:1-8, and especially Luke 11:9-10, bring up a lot of questions for me. In Luke 18, the persistent widow in the parable bothers the judge until he gives into her demands. Going to God over and over again sometimes feels like it’s showing a lack of faith instead of being a sign of having faith. Because it is often misused, Luke 11:9-10 can look like an instance of “magic genie God,” where we simply tell him what we want and voila! there it is. “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Shouldn’t this mean that God answers all of my prayers, regardless of what they they are?

Really though, both of these passages point to the same virtue: persistence. The widow maybe does bother the judge a bit, it’s true, but the judge isn’t a perfect representation of God--our God, who is perfect, is never bothered by us. He likes when we repeatedly pray the same prayers, because prayers are a way of building relationship, just like talking to our family or friends is. When we look at the context of Luke 11:9-10, we see that Jesus is pointing to God’s desire to bring about the best for his children, and he is reminding them to pray in accordance with God’s will. Often times when we pray, our limited perspective doesn’t enable us to see the greater God may be working.

This is all an excellent reminder of why we should pray, and yet it still doesn’t get at the heart of why prayer is so hard. I love the quote from Abraham Joshua Heschel that Pastor Dirk used:

"The issue of prayer is not prayer; the issue of prayer is God."

At first it sounds almost incorrect--we believe God is good, all-powerful, all-knowing--so how could he have “issues?” But when I dig deep down, my issue with prayer isn’t really about the act of praying itself; it’s about my insecurities, hang ups, and questions about the one I’m praying to.

Maybe how we pray reveals what we really believe about God.

It’s difficult, frustrating, even tedious to pray the same prayer over and over for weeks, months, years. Repeated praying can feel like we don’t believe God will answer our prayer, or that he’s not even listening at all. When God answers with a “no” to something we thought for sure would be within his will, the temptation to stop praying can become even stronger.

In these times, we need to remind ourselves of who God really is. If we turn to the Bible and see over and over again how good, faithful, and loving he is, we can relearn to pray like we really believe those things. God doesn’t love us any more or any less when we keep praying the same thing, and his answers to our prayers don’t mean he loves us any more or any less either--even if he doesn’t answer in the way or in the timeline that we’d like him to. If we allow it to, prayer can be an expression of faith that we know he will hear and answer.

So this week, I’m trying to return to some of the prayers I had stopped praying for a while. It’s with a bit of trepidation, but I’m hoping that doing so will remind me of who God really is, and that he does what he says he will.

[Brianna DeWitt believes in Jesus, surrounding yourself with good people, and that desserts are best when they involve chocolate and peanut butter. She writes about faith, growing up, and whatever else pops into her head on her own blog, and tweets (largely about food) at @bwitt722.]

Just and Gracious

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

The last two mornings, I’ve gotten up early for quiet time with God before the days burst into full volume. Both mornings, the loud child has woken up just as I’m settling in with my Bible and warm beverage. It seems like if I’m making extra effort toward good, holy choices, God might bless me with quiet, sleepy children.  

Photo Credit: Flickr user stockmonkeys.com

Perhaps that somewhat silly example isn’t a place where you can connect with the idea of being disappointed in our expectations of God; maybe one of these is a better fit: You followed what seemed like God’s will into college and a major; why has He given jobs to other people, but not to you? Your beloved relative sought to honor God with his life; why did God take him away at such a young age? You would be such good parents; why does God give children to others while you remain childless? You have honored God in relationships and waited for a godly spouse; why won’t He turn anyone’s head your way? Perhaps there’s another place you feel the sting of unmet expectation with God, and you question His fairness. 

Pastor Dirk drew our attention to God’s fairness in the Parable of the Compassionate Employer (Matthew 20:1-16). A vineyard owner (who represents God in this story) hires workers at the beginning of the day, agreeing to pay them a fair amount for a day of work; four more times throughout the day he hires other workers, agreeing to pay them whatever is right. At the end of the story, the workers all go home with the same pay, whether they worked one hour or twelve. The workers who were in the field the longest see the owner’s generosity to others and expect more than they agreed to; they complain that He is unfair. Two things stand out in particular in this parable: the compassion and unexpected generosity of the vineyard owner, and the expectations of the workers.

Whether we look at our own lives (when loud children wake up at 6:15, or whatever your unfairness might be), or look through the eyes of the vineyard workers, we might be tempted to claim that God is unfair. Yet the Bible tells us that God is just, or righteous. How can we reconcile real life with Truth?  

God is just. Justice means rendering to everyone what he is due. That’s an attribute of God that comforts me when I’m considering wrongs committed against me or injustice in the world. But I regularly forget what I am actually due:

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and …the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 3:23, 6:23).

I sin. I deserve death. That’s what I’m due. Death is what’s fair.

It turns out, I don’t want God to be fair. When I am reminded of what I am due, I am massively thankful that God is not only just, but He is also compassionate, merciful and gracious. Fairness alone would demand that I die and be separated from God forever. But mercy and grace are where I find myself saved and hidden with God forever!

By His great mercy and costly grace, God made a way to satisfy justice – to pay the death that my sin owes – and to mercifully offer me life with Him instead: Jesus is the way. If we believe that Jesus’ death paid for our sin, we are made right with God and will live with Him eternally!

The vineyard parable offers the stark and needed reminder that we are not “underpaid,” regardless of our circumstances. The breath in my lungs is an undeserved gift from God. No actions on my part – even obedient ones – demand generous rewards; nothing I do earns me more of His favor. Additional gracious blessings should be just that: unexpected and undemanded, not earned rewards. God’s perspective is so much different than ours:

“Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases him.” Psalm 115:3

God’s grace won’t be constrained by our perception of fairness.

“What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” Romans 9:14-16

Let’s let our joy in His blessings be full, unhindered by intolerance of His grace to others. 

[Robin Bupp is married to Caleb, and they are from many places east of the Mississippi (but are calling Michigan home for the foreseeable future). A former high school science teacher, Robin is slowly turning the two Bupp kiddos into tiny nerds while they teach her lots of things, especially humility and patience.]

Getting Grace

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

When we read the story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, we may not immediately want to identify with either of main characters. Taxes aren’t generally very popular, so anything associated with them gets a bad rap, and especially the tax collectors in Jesus’ day. As for the Pharisees, Jesus repeatedly warned his followers to not be like them, and the Pharisees were some of the people who ultimately saw to it that Jesus be crucified. 

Unfortunately, we can’t continue not identifying with either of the characters for long. Personally, I found myself muttering “Oh crap” under my breath as Pastor Dirk described the actions of the Pharisee. Because if I’m going to be one of the characters in this story, it would definitely be that guy. 

I’m pretty involved at Encounter—I write these Midweeks (clearly), I’m a youth leader, I facilitate the Women & Wine group, and a few other things. None of those are bad, but they also aren’t going to get me to heaven. They don’t make me any more or less holy than someone who’s involved in eighteen church activities or someone who hasn’t been to church in years. We can do years and years of good service, both in the church and out, but none of it counts in regards to our eternal salvation. 

Photo Credit: Flickr User kelly.sikkema, Creative Commons

All the work in the world won’t get us to heaven, which is at the same time deeply freeing and deeply terrifying. It’s only through God’s grace that anyone, ever, gets declared righteous in his eyes.

This is what the Pharisee in Luke 18 did not understand. Instead of receiving the gift of grace, he ran after religious accomplishments that could be counted and totaled up to prove that he was worthy. Though he tried to make himself sound humble, he ended up doing the exact opposite, showing how proud he was of his accomplishments—accomplishments that could never achieve what he wanted them to. I’m kind of with the Pharisee on this one—there’s a part of me that thinks it would be nice, or at least a lot easier, if there was a “Get to Heaven” checklist with certain accomplishments to tick off. 
• Pray every day and really mean it
• Read the entire Bible
• Love your neighbor
• Lead a Bible study
• Go to church every week
Check them all off, and it’s an automatic “Salvation card” for us. Except that’s not how gifts work.

The tax collector, on the other hand, had done so many wrong things he knew the only way he could become right with God was not through his own doing, but through God’s. He humbled himself to a place of knowing he’d done wrong and, if anything was going to change, the first move would need to come from God. 

That’s how God works—he makes the first move in saving us. 

Grace is a gift, and gifts can’t be manipulated or controlled, only received. I would much rather have it be something I can understand and control, can work harder to achieve for myself, than have it be so wildly out of my control. It’s also one of the beautiful things about grace, though. It’s so much bigger than us, so much purer than anything our human selves are capable of offering, so much more powerful than we’ll ever really understand. So while we can’t earn grace, we can receive it and offer back our thanks. 

[Brianna DeWitt believes in Jesus, surrounding yourself with good people, and that desserts are best when they involve chocolate and peanut butter. She writes about faith, growing up, and whatever else pops into her head on her own blog, and tweets (largely about food) at @bwitt722.]