The Light of the World

[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://encounterchurch.org/messages] 

John 8:12 says, “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ ”

How many times have I heard that Bible verse, but never really thought too hard about it? Countless. Yup, Jesus is the light of the world. Got it.

It seems like such a simple and cliche idea—that Jesus is the light of the world. He shines eternal hope into our dreary earthly lives. But I think we need to stop and really explore the meaning of those words, and then let them sink in.

Light reveals God.

In the Old Testament, God’s presence, in the form of a pillar of fire by night or cloud of smoke by day, led Moses and the Israelites through the desert to the Promised land. This fire or smoke could be seen from far away and revealed to the Israelites that God was still with them.

There are moments in my life where the light of Christ shines in, letting me know that He’s still there, that He will never leave me, and that He never breaks His promises. Last week I was rocking my son to sleep and Jesus broke into my small little world and illuminated the miracle that he had given me. I just stared down at Gus’s little face and began crying, overcome with amazement that God created this little person and let me be his mama. I rarely stop to think about the miracle of life, but it’s moments like those where I know I can see the light of Christ shining into my life and revealing His presence.

Light guides us.

The fire and smoke in the desert were also guiding the Israelites to their final destination. The Israelites followed closely behind the presence of God, trusting that He would deliver them to the Promised land.

I’m the worst at following. I like to create my own plans and be the one to follow through on them; you might say I have control issues. Letting Christ lead me is extremely challenging, but I try to remember that the God who delivered the Israelites out of Egypt is the same God who sent His son Jesus to die and give me eternal life; why wouldn’t I give up control to a God like that?

Light exposes the darkness.

As we’ve had sunny days in Michigan recently, I have loved keeping our curtains open and soaking up some Vitamin D. Unfortunately for me, that sun also revealed some (okay, a LOT) of cobwebs that had accumulated over the winter. I’m sure they were there the entire time, but the light shining in our windows revealed them to me; and now that I had the knowledge of them, it meant dusting. And I hate dusting. But that’s besides the point. Sometimes God’s light shines into our lives and we see things that we wish we could keep hidden. He exposes all of our shortcomings, faults, and sins so that we can repent, change, and seek grace at Jesus's feet.

Photo credit: Flickr Creative Commons user goosmurf

Jesus is the light of the world.

These words mean so much more than our initial surface-level interpretation. Jesus's light lets us know that God is always with us and keeps his promises. We also can follow closely behind Jesus as He guides us with His light in order to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives. And finally, Christ’s light exposes the darkness in our lives so that we might hear His voice and choose to follow Him.

If you are seeing the light of the world for the first time, or the first time in a long time, be open to how God reveals Himself to you. If you’ve been walking blindly through life, not knowing which direction you’re headed, choose to follow in Jesus’s footsteps and live a life modeled after Christ. And if God is exposing some darkness in your life—whether that’s sin, shame, guilt, or addiction—allow His light to fill every corner of your dark heart and begin transformation in your life.

[Megan Stephenson is a proud new mom to her nine-month-old son August and spends her days trying to figure out how to take care of her tiny human. She also works for a private education group in Grand Rapids as an Assistant Registrar. Megan 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.]

Everything in Its Proper Place

[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, when I heard Bible stories about idols I always thought of little golden statues that looked like animals or maybe animals with some human features. Since I didn’t have any of those mixed in with my stuffed animal collection, I figured I was probably good to go and the commandment about “You shall not have any other gods before me” was one I didn’t have to pay attention to. Even as I got older, the concept of idols wasn’t one I spent much time thinking about. Having idols was about praying to other gods, which I didn’t do, or getting too wrapped up in fancy possessions or an important job, which I didn’t have. Except eventually the idea got introduced that placing idols before God wasn’t just about loving the wrong things, but could be a matter of loving the right things in the wrong way.

Photo Credit: Tim Marshall

In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul is writing the church at Corinth to warn them of ways they may be going astray without thinking they are. He recounts various ways the Israelites were examples of what not to do, reminding his readers that the Israelites got caught up in wanting to be like their neighbors. Their desire to be like the other nations led them to create a literal idol out of gold, to engage in sexual activities God had specifically forbidden, and to test whether God would stay true to his word.

While these exact sins may not be temptations for us, Paul goes on to say, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:12-14)

So I wonder if the real problem of idols comes less from what our idols are and more from why we have them. In the case of the Israelites, they let idols creep in when they took their attention off what God wanted for them and let their own interests take center stage. They chose things that were fairly obviously bad choices, but not all idols are created out of bad things.

One of the difficulties of being human is our incapability to love perfectly. Anytime we love, we will eventually, in some way, warp that love into some shape it was never meant to be. We’ll love too much or too little, too early or too late, with too much force or with not enough. There will be glimmers of perfection, because love is a reflection of God, but at some point our love will go off-kilter. This is how we end up with idols we never thought could become idols. Good gifts like jobs, spouses, vacations, kids, friends, or even our desire for these good things, can become idols when we strive after them instead of striving after God. Even our devotion to God, our desire to serve him well by doing good works and learning truth, can become an idol if we get caught up in the actions and forget that our true goal is to long for God himself.

We’re not resigned to a life of worshiping the wrong things though. As Paul promised, God will provide a way out--and the way is himself. When we can recognize that we’ve shifted God from being the center of our lives and pushed him off to one side, we are never so far gone that we can’t ask him to realign our priorities so he is centered again. As we look at our lives, what are the areas where we’re tempted to let good things become the ultimate thing? How can we invite God to become the center of our life again and let everything fall into its good and proper place on the sides? And are we willing to make the make the choices and the changes it will take to get us there?

[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.]

Water Walking Shoes, Not Required

October 2012, JR and I arrived in the wake of hurricane Sandy as she left South Florida (from here on known as SoFlo) and headed up the coast to do some grand damage on the Jersey coast.  I took a walk along the Atlantic shore a couple days later, enjoying the surf show locals were putting on.  The waves were magnificent.  I had no idea this was not just another day at the beach for the masses of people in wetsuits hoisting surfboard off their cars and into the water.  Turns out, there were a lot of people too “sick” to go to work that day.  Waves like those produced by Sandy’s departure didn’t come around often.  I love the ocean.  

We moved from Colorado to SoFlo that October, just missing a storm, though our nearly three years living there seemed mostly stormy.  We left Colorado in a rented RV as I thought it might be fun to road trip, enjoying the country and taking this big transition slowly.  We left our house and less than 10 minutes later, our RV was stalling in the middle of an intersection just yards from the gas station.  HOURS later, we exchanged RVs - unpacking one and repacking the new one.  HOURS later we left on our adventure.  Again.  In our first two weeks, we would lose three contracts on our Colorado home and lose three contracts on places to live in FL.  We did not end up renting a house with a backyard and plenty of space.  We did rent a small apartment and had to give away more of our worldly goods - more than we already had when we packed up to move away from Colorado.  Within six months the corporate company JR had moved with started to show some ugly colors.  We were not adapting easily to a rough, rude, overcrowded, untrustworthy culture.  The ocean was great. 

I did not keep track of how many times I wondered or asked God outright - did we make a mistake?  Was this not your will for us?  Did we miss something?  Each time I asked, I felt a check in my spirit saying:  “Why do you ask that?”  

My response was always:  “Because this is so hard.”  

The question that followed:  “So difficulty = mistake made?”

I know better.  I have not only studied the Word enough to have been taught this, but have also lived through enough to know God doesn’t call his people to an easy life, to simple assignments, to a comfortable cozy country-club stroll through the park journey.  Yet here I was, having left the safe and familiar of many years; many friends; many places I knew how to get to; many jobs I knew how to do; many circumstances I knew how to navigate.  And It. Was. Hard.  So I doubted.  Though really, living within walking distance of the ocean was nearly nirvana.

My favorite story in the Bible is Peter walking on water.  Because he got to actually do that - walk on water, without water walking shoes; without previous water walking experience; no years of water walking training, and don’t forget, no previous human water walking ever recorded. He saw His master, wanted to be where He was, asked to come and do what His Master was doing and got the thumbs up.  I want to do that.  

Back in SoFlo 10 1/2 months in, JR came home from work and threw a piece of paper on the table, walked off to the bedroom.   The paper was filled with the inference JR had not been doing the job they wanted him to do and he would no longer keep the title nor the pay that he moved to Florida for.  He would have his previous job back.  In Florida.  What was written was so clearly  CYA language and not truth.  He just got handed this paper, no warning, no questions, no commentary, no conversation.  Over our tasteless dinner he said, “That’s it.  I’ve had enough.  I’m pushing the eject button.”

I simply nodded my head.  We were one week away from closing on a townhouse.  

After our tasteless dinner, I picked up reading  Isaiah in The Message from where we left off the previous night, chapter 40.  Its a good chapter - go look it up.  I’m not sure we could really ‘hear’ the Word, but we certainly ‘heard’ from the Lord as i began to read Eugene Peterson’s commentary on the chapter.  

“But God’s word about the future is a little different . It isn’t delayed but is rooted in the present.  He has us prepare the way for him in the desert of our present existence. 

That is to say, don’t build castles in the air, don’t construct an elaborate fantasy life about God’s future for you.  In the desert prepare the way of the Lord.  Right here where the going is roughest.  Here in a foreign place.  Here in exile.  

In this passage the geographical present is emphasized.   This very  dry, colorless, arid existence that seems to characterize the life of the sufferer - here is where the highway of God is to be built.  Don't’ look for some ejection button to push for an immediate escape.  Instead, build a highway, which takes time.  Build it well. And build it where you are.  EP” 

JR:  “It did NOT say that!”  

Me:  “uh, yes it did.”  And I handed him the Bible.  

We stayed for nearly two more years.  We met some fantastic people.  There were some delightful little people we fell in love with.  And of course there was more really rough going.  I stopped asking the question though.    We did our share of crying out to be saved.  The Lord did not always make the storm calm down.  He doesn’t always change our circumstances.  But He made it clear He heard us and that we were not alone.  

Truly Jesus is the Son of God  I say that with confidence, with honesty, with experience.  I’ll hang my hat on it.   

We moved to Grand Rapids in September of 2015.  The story has changed.  We like it here.  Though I have to be honest, 

I do miss that ocean.  

Unqualified Success

[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://encounterchurch.org/messages] 

Auditions. I’ve been active in Grand Rapids theatre for the last 20 years and that involves lots and lots of auditions. For me, that means a great deal of preparation in order to present myself as the best possible person for the role I want. I check out a script from the theatre weeks in advance. I study the role, and the relationship the person has to the other people in the play. If dialect is required, I brush up on one already acquired or watch You Tube videos to learn a new one. I read the script out loud to get a sense of what is going on and who this character is, and what they want. It’s all about putting my best foot forward so that the director can see that I am clearly the best qualified actress for this role, and without a doubt, the most talented actress in all of Grand Rapids. I deserve this role. That’s the narrative in my head, anyway.

It’s a different story when I’m asked to do something I’m really not qualified to do. My husband has prepared our income tax forms for years, but this year we decided it would be good for me to learn how to do it. I mean, I don’t even balance our checkbook….ever. I can’t add in my head and the times tables deserted me around junior high. (Are they even called the “times tables” any more??) I procrastinated, dragging my feet, coming up with lame reasons to do it another day. Clearly Bob is more talented in this area. He fixes my financial calculations all the time. How could I expect to do this? The story in my mind in this setting was that my incompetence would certainly disqualify me.

There are many stories in the Bible of people with the same narrative in their heads. Clearly unqualified. Yet, God steps in. Jacob, the trickster, becomes a great patriarch. Moses, slow of speech and tongue, speaks of release before the great Pharaoh. Gideon, from the weakest clan and the least in his family, ends up defeating the Midianites. Scared Peter heads up the church, a lowly girl becomes the mother of Jesus, and a broken woman inhabited by demons gets to tell the disciples of the risen Christ. Evidently God has a thing for inept, broken people. But I know that if I thought I was qualified to do what God was asking of me, I’d probably take some (all) of the credit. I’d deserve the credit. (See audition paragraph above.) But it is Christ living out his life in us that qualifies us and empowers us for what God asks of us—only Christ.

In her book Accidental Saints, Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber relates the story of the time she addressed a Lutheran teen convention. She told the attendees many of her own flaws—she had a past of alcoholism, drug abuse, lying, and stealing. Then she relates that she went on to say this:

I told them that is this a God who has always used imperfect people, that this is a God who walked among us and who ate with all the wrong people and kissed lepers. I told them that this is a God who rose from the dead and grilled fish on the beach with his friends and then ascended into heaven and is especially present to us in the most offensively ordinary things: wheat, wine, water, words. I told them that this God has never made sense. And you don’t need to either, because this God will use you, this God will use all of you, and not just your strengths, but your failures and your failings. Your weakness is fertile ground for a forgiving God to make something new and to make something beautiful, so don’t ever think that all you have to offer are your gifts.

This is where God meets us. We could not possibly do what God wants of us on our own. But the God who knows us, who formed us, who gives us the breath we breathe, qualifies us for what lies ahead through Jesus and his redeeming love and sacrifice. All we can say is “Thanks be to God!”

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

2 Corinthians 12:9

[Sandy Navis is happily retired and spends her days doing pretty much whatever she wants to do. She is a firm believer in the power of laughter, singing while doing the dishes, crazy dancing while cleaning house, and eating chocolate every day. Sandy has three grandkids, who she loves to talk about even more than breadmaking.]

Above the Noise: A Personal God

As an individual who is diagnosed with anxiety and depression, I know the power that negative thoughts can hold over my life. Once a destructive idea sneaks its way into my head, it’s nearly impossible to change my internal dialogue and recognize that idea as a lie. One of the recurring thoughts in my head is that I’m “too much” and “not enough” all at the same time. Too emotional, too complicated, too broken. Not organized enough, not productive enough, not successful enough. The noise of these thoughts pervades my mind on an almost subconscious level. It has taken the right medication, a few therapy sessions, and a lot of support from my husband to reach a point where I can even recognize these negative thoughts for what they are: lies.

While my particular experience with believing lies might be extreme compared to most, it is an example of how our doubt, fear, and misconceptions can grab hold of our beliefs and twist them in our own minds.

Genesis 3 tells the story of how the woman (Eve) believed the lies from the serpent and allowed them to influence her mind and her actions. The serpent planted a seed of doubt in her mind when he asked, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” This simple inquiry led Eve to question what she believed about God. Rather than focusing on her personal relationship with the Lord God (a person), she let her doubts alter her view of God (as an idea).

And just like that, a wedge was created in her relationship with God. And so Eve listened to the noise of the serpent when he told her that, “You will not certainly die… For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5). Again, the crafty serpent drove the wedge further between the woman and the Lord God by suggesting that God was keeping something from her—the knowledge of good and evil.

Often in our own lives, we are tempted by things that deep-down we know aren’t in accordance with the Lord God’s will, but our human curiosity gets the best of us, and we just want to see what would happen IF:

·         if we continue our habitual sin for just a little longer

·         if we cut corners just a little to get that promotion

·         if we tithe just a little bit less in order to afford that new car

Can you fill in the blank for yourself? Does something come to mind right away? If so, consider adjusting your idea of God and block out all the other noise, doubts, and temptations. Instead, focus your mind and energy on your personal relationship with the Lord God. After all, we are loved by the Lord God not because of what we have done, but because of who He is. Our very personal God sacrificed His own Son to cover our sin and shame in order to continue to have relationships with His children.

We serve a God that can speak to us above all of the noise—doubts, fear, disbelief—that the world throws at us. Choose to listen to His voice only and trust that God is who He says He is.

Jeremiah 9:23-24

This is what the LORD says:

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the LORD, who exercise kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD.

[Megan Stephenson is a proud new mom to her eight-month-old son August and spends her days trying to figure out how to take care of her tiny human. She also works for a private education group in Grand Rapids as an Assistant Registrar. Megan 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.]