Monday, March 14, 2011

Jesus Welcomes Rejects

It was the kind of moment when the impact of it just washed quickly over me and I wasn't sure what to do with it. I just knew it was so comforting and healing. It was that moment when a Truth of Scripture just bounces off the page and smacks you square in the face with how beautiful it is. I smiled, then shook my head with the realization that I am so blessed, and not worthy of the love and acceptance Jesus gives. A song came to mind:

"When no one else knows how I feel, Your love for me is proven real. When noone else cares where I've been, You run to me with outstretched hands...and You hold me in Your arms, again." (Building 429)

"They (pharisees) answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?"
(John 9:34-35)

And here's the beautiful part: They cast him out, Jesus sought him out and found him!!

There will always be those that are 'quick to cast'; the infamous "they" will accuse, abandon, disappoint, betray, reject. You try to do the right thing, honor God, obey His word and instead of being able to be excited and joyful about something great God has done, you have to "answer to the accusers". This blind man had received sight after a lifetime of living in darkness. He had responded to Jesus in obedience, and experienced healing. Then he has to stand before Jesus' accusers. He chooses to defend Jesus' authority to heal him, even if it occured on the sabbath. The problem was that in doing this, he challenged the Pharisees who considered themselves the only authority that mattered.

It just melted my heart to see this man robbed of the joy of this moment and cast out. And he didn't even really know Jesus at this point! He just knew "a man called Jesus"(John 9:11)had authority to direct him ("go to the pool of Siloam and wash" (John 9:7), the ability to heal him, and compassion to do so. But then Jesus found him! He gave him a chance to "see" Him clearly for who He was, the very Son of God, and the man believed and worshipped.

Jesus specializes and welcomes rejects. Those that are written off by others as "insignificant nobodies", Christ died for, and they are Somebody to Him. They just need the chance to see Him for who He is, the One who can forgive them and accept them. And even in the grace already experienced in salvation there are days when doing the right thing just lands you in the outcast pile, crushed and broken. To live in such a way that your obedience to Christ is evident will challenge any idea or philosophy, action or attitude that is not wholly submitted to God's authoritative Truth. Rejection is a consequence and can be brutal.

"If the world hate you, know that it hated me before it hated you" John 15:18

They cast him out, He found him.
He finds me.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

I love God's Sense of Humor!

My first reaction when opening my devotional booklet was to smirk at the irony of it; “Not funny, Lord. “ It was entitled “Emergency Room Fellowship”, and emergency rooms were not what I wanted to read about at the moment. I sighed, certain I needed something more after the night we had. Well, let me explain.

Rog had spent the previous night in the ER of all places, with one of our guys. And only because when the doctor was called we were told it would be mid-March before he could be seen. He was told to go to the ER where the doctor was on call for the evening and he would meet him there. Not until hours later did we learn that hospital policy would not allow his doctor to be notified until after one of the ER doctors had seen him. So at 1:10 a.m. (the doctor had left the hospital hours earlier of course), the ER tech called the doctor. Well, to spare you the additional details, it was nearly 5:30 a.m. before Rog finally got home, nearly 13 hours later. He actually tried to leave after the first several hours with the intent to just take him back the next morning, but was told insurance would not pay for the visit if he left after checking in! (Insurance; to have it or not to have it. What a headache either way! I’ll save that issue for another day.)

While Rog was taking care of that situation, I was dealing with a couple of my own. You know the old saying…it’s an old saying for a reason…”when it rains, it pours!” Mini-crisis #1: an angry young man that took several hours to settle down after having to accept the consequences of his belligerent and willful behavior which included deliberate destruction of property (minimal damage thankfully). On a side note, this is why many parents will not say no to a child; anything to avoid a confrontation. Tantrums are a challenge enough with toddlers, but when they’re teens, situations can be quite volatile. Oops, another issue to save for another day! (Note: by Sunday he was like a new person.) Mini-crisis #2: en route from North Carolina for a visit, our 16 year-old nephew called to say he was involved in a hit-and-run with a semi! Over the next several hours, numerous phone calls, texts, conversations with state troopers, the tow truck driver…we were satisfied that he was safe and his mom was on the way to pick him up. So, I was finally able to lie down around 4:30 a.m. after relaying phone messages through the night, between all parties involved in each situation.

In a flash, as I sat there with my Bible open, still frustrated, relieved, emotionally drained, these events crossed my mind. Had it really been just one evening? This devotion was exactly what I needed. And I finally chuckled just thinking, God has such a sense of humor! His timing is perfect. The thought was taken from Galatians about bearing one another’s burdens. This was exactly what had taken place with us and suddenly, instead of frustration and exhaustion, I was flooded with gratefulness. During the midst of the chaos, one of the phone calls I made was to co-workers and friends. No, not just co-workers and friends, but a brother and sister in Christ. In a minute, he was ready to relieve Rog at the hospital so that he could go and meet our nephew. In the end, he didn’t have to do that. So when he left me, comfortable that everyone was calm and I had the guys in bed after our devotion and snack time, he instead drove into town and picked up something for Rog and his ER patient to eat (neither had eaten in hours) without saying a word to me about it. What an encouragement he was, giving Emergency Room fellowship a whole new meaning. In the meantime, she called, knowing what kind of night it had been and prayed with me over the phone, asking God to give grace and strength and whatever else we would need to get through the rest of the weekend.

People can choose to be kind, no doubt. But when God is involved the spiritual impact is difficult to explain. Both the burdened and the burden-bearer are blessed, encouraged, uplifted, strengthened, and Christ is glorified. The “law of Christ” is fulfilled (Galatians 6:2), the law of love. It’s Christian love in action, and just one reason it’s so special to be a part of His family. It can be expressed in a smile or hug, a phone call, a prayer, or even a trip to the emergency room in the middle of the night with food!

Lord, make me a blessing to someone today. Not so that I can feel good about myself for having done a good deed, but so your name can be honored, and others can be touched. Bless both the burdened and the burden-bearer and show your love to the world in the process.

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35