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.]