Easter Monday Blues

Posted on by Betsy

The day has finally arrived and gone. All the plastic eggs and colorful chocolate foil wrappers have been picked up and put away. For the church, this means that the long winter night know as Lent is finally over and we can get back to business as usual. But a well spent Lent leaves a mark on our soul. That is the purpose and intention of Lent. So now that our fasting and self-examination period is over, what’s next? What did we learn? How will we apply Lent’s healing salve on our hearts for the rest of our year? What do we need to do to keep this fire of discipline burning so that our faith won’t dissipate like a vapor?

I think we should start by asking the same question that Hosea did. What does God desire for his people?

Hosea 6:4-6

 Ephraim, what will I do with you?
            Judah, what will I do with you?
    Your love is like a morning cloud,
            like the dew that vanishes quickly.
5     Therefore, I have attacked them by the prophets,
            I have killed them by the words of my mouth,
                and my judgment goes forth like a light.


6     I desire faithful love and not sacrifice,
            the knowledge of God instead of entirely burned offerings.

Hosea was a prophet who served God during the period of the divided kingdom. Civil war had separated the people into the Northern Kingdom of Judah and the Southern Kingdom of Isreal. Political and economic prosperity had led the people to turn away from God and turn toward idolatry, corruption, and spiritual and moral decay. God called Hosea to speak to the people and kings of the Northern Kingdom. The name Hosea means “salvation” and comes from the same root as Joshua and Jesus. Thus he was tasked by speaking the truth of God in an attempt to save the people from themselves.

Hosea is very clear and direct regarding God’s desires, boiling it down to two things: Faithful love and knowledge of God. Truly, if we were to succeed in just these two things we would grow closer to God every day.

The people of that time we so far from God, their love evaporated as quickly as the morning dew and the sunrise clouds. Barely here, they are gone in an instant like the mercy and obedience of the wayward people. While they were consistently bringing animals to sacrifice at the altar, none of them could bring themselves as a living sacrifice to the Lord. They missed what God really wanted from them: A deep, close relationship. 

Jesus quoted Hosea twice in Matthew 9:13 and 12:7. “Go and learn what this means: I want mercy and not sacrifice. I didn’t come to call righteous people, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13). It seems that we never learn.

“What will I do with you?” God asks us today. I suggest that as we enter into Eastertide, we keep God’s desires in mind. Let us resolve to show acts of faithful love and mercy every day. Let us resolve to grow in our knowledge of God through faithful worship and Bible study attendance. How will you live up to God’s desires? Make a plan.

Morning Cloud by Michelle Robertson

Sorrowful Friday

Posted on by Betsy

We have finally arrived. Today is Good Friday, the last weekday of our journey through Lent. As a child, I used to wonder why we called it “Good.” It seemed to me the day Jesus died on the cross was anything but good. Easter Sunday? Good. Birthdays? Good. Last day of school? Very good. But the crucifixion? Not so good.

Some believe that it is a variation of “God’s Friday.” In Germany, it is called Karfreitag, or “Sorrowful Friday.” Of course what remains good about today is that God’s plan to save humanity could only come through Jesus’ willing sacrifice, which brought eternal life to everyone. Even though it was horrific by any measure, God indeed used Jesus’ death for the “good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28).

John 19 (The Message)

28 Jesus, seeing that everything had been completed so that the Scripture record might also be complete, then said, “I’m thirsty.”

29-30 A jug of sour wine was standing by. Someone put a sponge soaked with the wine on a javelin and lifted it to his mouth. After he took the wine, Jesus said, “It’s done . . . complete.” Bowing his head, he offered up his spirit.

Note that the scripture reads that he offered up his spirit. It wasn’t taken or forced from him, but he offered it. Can you imagine? He did that for you.

38 After all this, Joseph of Arimathea (he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, because he was intimidated by the Jews) petitioned Pilate to take the body of Jesus. Pilate gave permission. So Joseph came and took the body.

Take a look at the detail in the descriptions of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus (below). Joseph was a “secret” disciple, because he was intimidated by the Jews. Nicodemus, however, has made the leap from first coming to Jesus in the dark of night to now being able to come in the broad daylight. What are we meant to learn?

Be Nicodemus. Stand in the light and proclaim Christ as Lord. Don’t be intimidated by the secular world or the scorn of non-believers. Share your faith openly and boldly. You have a story to tell….because it doesn’t end with Good Friday.

39-42 Nicodemus, who had first come to Jesus at night, came now in broad daylight carrying a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. They took Jesus’ body and, following the Jewish burial custom, wrapped it in linen with the spices. There was a garden near the place he was crucified, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been placed. So, because it was Sabbath preparation for the Jews and the tomb was convenient, they placed Jesus in it.

But for today, we leave Jesus in the tomb. You have to go through Good Friday to get to Easter Sunday.

On this day of sorrows, be mindful of everything it cost our Lord to purchase your salvation. He loves you that much.

It is finished.

Sorrowful Night by Becca Ziegler

“Here!”

Posted on by Betsy

I recently had a fun conversation with a friend from my old church about Christmas Eve services. We were a large church that became huge on Christmas Eve, and at one point we had to offer four services to accommodate all of the worshippers. Calculating the amount of people that I personally would serve at one of three communion stations, my friend estimated that I would need to say, “the body and blood of Christ given to you” several hundred times that night. At our pre-Christmas Eve dinner with church members at our favorite Mexican restaurant, somebody suggested that for the ones gathered there, I could save myself and simply say, “Here!” That got a good laugh. Unfortunately, my oldest daughter was seated at the end of the table and missed the conversation. So imagine her surprise (and displeasure!) when she came forward in Mom’s line and was met with, “Here!”

Think for a moment about the power of taking communion. I bet you have received it in many places and in many forms, from the casual retreat setting to the most formal of presentations in a church. I once took communion at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, which may count as the most elaborate setting for communion. But probably the most profound communions I have received have been the day I was confirmed in my childhood church in Gibbsboro, N.J., the first time I served it as a newly ordained pastor at my church in Peachtree City, GA, and serving my grandson his first ever communion in the downstairs hallway of the church. Communion is one of two sacraments in the United Methodist Church, and truly is the place were God meets us right where we are. I hope you feel the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit every time you receive the body and blood of Christ, given for you.

Our passage today marks the moment when the Last Supper became the Lord’s Supper from that night until eternity. Read it and feast:

Mark 14 (New International Version)

12 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

13 So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15 He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”

16 The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

17 When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. 18 While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”

19 They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”

20 “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. 21 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”

23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

24 “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. 25 “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

26 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Amidst the disciples’ confusion, Judas’ betrayal, the ritual remembrance of the Passover, (when God delivered his children from death at the last plague in Egypt) and the gathering of friends for one last meal, Jesus abruptly breaks the bread and raises the cup, instituting the new covenant and the Eucharist.

When we gather in our churches tomorrow night for Maundy Thursday services, we will remember this exact moment. “Maundy” comes from the Latin word for “mandate, command” and refers to the new commandment that followed this evening’s actions, as recorded in John 13:34-35 “34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

How well do we follow that new commandment? Do we live up to our communion invitation to participate in Christ by loving as he loved?

I hope you are able to attend a Maundy Thursday service. When you receive that broken body and shed blood, remember the new covenant. Then go out and be the new covenant for the world.

This is my body, broken for you … by Becca Ziegler

Crossing the Finish Line

Posted on by Betsy

One of the blessings of observing Lent for six weeks is the focused anticipation of Easter. Some of us anticipate it with the breathless excitement of a child waiting for her Easter basket full of jelly beans. Some of us anticipate it like a child attending an Easter egg hunt….we know there are hidden treats there somewhere, but we are still looking through the high grass. Most of us just want the six weeks of self-deprivation to end.

Whatever your perspective is as we begin this last week of Lent, Easter is coming. The hour approaches. The finish line is in sight! The culmination of this season of disciplined waiting is about to end.

How are you doing?

Have you kept up with the commitments you made on Ash Wednesday to be more diligent in your fasting, prayer, scripture reading, meditation, repentance, worship, and serving?

Yeah, me neither.

You might be like me. I have been satisfactory in one area. I picked up two Cokesbury contracts this Lent, so I am writing and studying Scripture for hours on end. But I totally bombed in another. I committed to not snacking in the evening and that has been a big fail. My definition of “evening” keeps getting pushed back…all the way to midnight.

Today’s Scripture is a glimpse of how Jesus spent his last hours before the crucifixion. Notice his complete and total commitment to what was about to happen.

John 12 (English Standard Version)


20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

The hour has come. This must be finished. A grain of wheat must die in the ground to produce seed for the fruit. You must die to your life to produce seed for eternal life. Jesus invites us to follow him in this last hour.

27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

Jesus didn’t waver at the end. Neither should we. Let us push on with our Lent practices and finish strong. Remember that the whole point of Lent is to bring us closer and deeper into God’s Holy presence. It’s not so much about “giving up” as it is “focusing in” on who God is and whose we are. That focus allows God to be glorified in our lives and the crowd of people around us will know we are Christ-followers by our example.

The finish line is in sight! No turning back.

Almost There

When Little is Better

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever locked yourself out of your house or is it just me? We were returning from a family outing and found that sure enough, all the doors to the house were locked and we couldn’t get in. All of a sudden our five-year-old grandson yelled, “Hey! I think I can go through the dog door!” At first all the adults tried to go through but each one of us got stuck. Finally we instructed him on how to open the front door and not stop to play on the way. Sure enough, his tiny little frame crawled perfectly though the flaps and we were in like flint. Sometimes little is better.

This is the underlying message for today’s passage. In ways, it reads like a recruitment poster for righteousness. Writing from the long-life experience of a man who was after God’s own heart, David assures readers that even though the righteous have little compared to the “overabundant wealth”(verse 16) of the evil, things will right themselves in the end.

Psalm 37 (Common English Bible)

Better is the little that the righteous have
    than the overabundant wealth of the wicked.
17 The arms of the wicked will be broken,
    but the Lord supports the righteous.
18 The Lord is intimately acquainted
    with the lives of the blameless;
    their heritage will last forever.

David sets up his argument in a series of opposites. The blameless receive an inheritance that lasts forever: The wicked die. The righteous are generous: The wicked borrow and don’t pay back. The blessed will possess the land: The cursed will be cut off.

19 They won’t be ashamed in troubling times,
    and in a period of famine they will eat their fill.
20 But the wicked will die,
    the Lord’s enemies will disappear—
    disappear like the beauty of a meadow—in smoke.
21 The wicked borrow and don’t pay it back, but the righteous are generous and giving.
22 Those blessed by God will possess the land,
    but those cursed by God will be cut off.

If that wasn’t enough to make you want to join the righteous, David offers a beautiful word picture in verse 24: “Though they trip up, they won’t be thrown down, because the Lord holds their hand”. Who among us doesn’t resonate with an image of a loving father holding the hand of a small child?

23 A person’s steps are made secure by the Lord
    when they delight in his way.
24 Though they trip up, they won’t be thrown down,
    because the Lord holds their hand.

You see, the overabundance of the wicked in this world is a fleeting, temporary illusion. Whatever they have now will not last. The “little” that comes from doing good is eternal and enough to sustain us though times of famine and strife. In the end, the righteous will live in the land forever.

25 I was young and now I’m old,
    but I have never seen the righteous left all alone,
    have never seen their children begging for bread.
26 They are always gracious and generous.
    Their children are a blessing.

David ends his recruitment speech with a clear directive: “Turn away from evil! Do good!”.

27 Turn away from evil! Do good!
    Then you will live in the land forever.
28 The Lord loves justice.
    He will never leave his faithful all alone.
    They are guarded forever,
        but the children of the wicked are eliminated.
29 The righteous will possess the land;
    they will live on it forever.

Friends, we are living in times when it seems like the wicked among us are living in luxury and power. It is easy to get discouraged to see them prosper while the poor and disenfranchised suffer. David speaks directly to us today. The Lord loves justice! Vengeance will be God’s. God will never leave the faithful alone. Of that we can be sure.

Would you rather have it all in this life or the next? How can we encourage one another to do good in the world? These are good things to ponder as we enter Holy Week.

Little is Better


Farming Faithfulness

Posted on by Betsy

Did you read Hamlet in high school? Many of us were exposed to this monumental Shakespearian “revenge tragedy” in our youth. Hamlet is a story of revenge gone wrong. Instructed by his father’s ghost to avenge his death, young Hamlet devises a way to kill his uncle for the murder. So Hamlet fakes madness, rejects his intended love interest Ophelia (who later drowns), stabs loyal attendant Polonius by accident behind a tapestry, and watches his mother die from poisoned wine intended for him. It ends with duel that kills both Laertes and Hamlet. The lesson of Hamlet is that revenge is a dish best not served. 

David’s Psalm 37 teaches the same thing. This wisdom psalm is reminiscent of Proverbs and follows a rough acrostic pattern where the first words of each line flow alphabetically from Alpha to Zed.

Psalm 37 (Common English Bible)

Don’t get upset over evildoers;
    don’t be jealous of those who do wrong,
2     because they will fade fast, like grass;
    they will wither like green vegetables.

David tells us not to fret. We all recognize that fretting is harmful and unproductive, and yet when evildoers prevail, it is hard not to fume. David teaches us instead to “farm faithfulness” by waiting on God to avenge us. God will eliminate the evil doers who fade fast like grass on a hot summer day. We don’t need to take action, for God will avenge us.

3 Trust the Lord and do good;
    live in the land, and farm faithfulness.
4 Enjoy the Lord,
    and he will give what your heart asks.
5 Commit your way to the Lord!
    Trust him! He will act
6     and will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
    your justice like high noon.
7 Be still before the Lord,
    and wait[b] for him.
Don’t get upset when someone gets ahead—
    someone who invents evil schemes.

Verses 3 through 7 are a list of directives that will help us from being distracted by our desire for revenge and enable us to farm that faithfulness that David encouraged. Look at the first words in each verse. We are instructed to enjoy the Lord, commit our way to God, trust God, be still, and don’t get upset. The invitation to delight in God reminds us that even in prison, Paul and Sirus sang as they awaited justice. God intends to give us the desires of our heart if we commit our ways to him. 

8 Let go of anger and leave rage behind!
    Don’t get upset—it will only lead to evil.
9 Because evildoers will be eliminated,
    but those who hope in the Lord—
    they will possess the land.
10 In just a little while the wicked won’t exist!
    If you go looking around their place,
    they won’t be there.
11 But the weak will inherit the land;
    they will enjoy a surplus of peace.
12 The wicked plot against the righteous,
    grinding their teeth at them.
13 But my Lord just laughs at them
    because he knows that their day is coming.
14 The wicked draw their swords and bend their bows
    to bring down the weak and the needy,
    to slaughter those whose way is right.
15 But the sword of the wicked will enter their own hearts!
    Their bows will be broken!

Psalm 37 offers pointers on how to live in and live as the Kingdom of God. We can see correlations between David’s writing and Jesus’ Beatitudes found in Matthew 5, particularly in the revelation that the meek shall inherit the land/earth in Psalm 37:11 and Matthew 5:5. All of the spiritual reversals in the Beatitudes are reflected in this psalm’s contrasts between the wicked and the righteous. Our Lord knew his Scriptures and certainly Psalm 37 served as a foundation to the words he spoke in the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are we when we trust God’s justice and wait patiently for God to act.

Do you trust God enough to be patient or do you need to get revenge? What would it take for you emulate meekness? Be still. God is on your side.

Still Water by Stacy Murphy

Richness in Faith

Posted on by Betsy

American shows today seem to center on our fascination of what it means to be truly rich. We just can’t get enough! From heavy duty productions like Game of Thrones to silly indulgences like Succession and Palm Royale, the story of the ruthless wealthy class exalting in their ultra-privileged lives while the poor characters scrabble and fight and long to break in to that class is told over and over again. It’s almost biblical! Actually, it is biblical.

Our passage in James today plays with similar themes of rich and poor and asks us to consider what it means to be truly rich. The book of James is considered to be the first letter written in the New Testament and he wrote in an age of great prejudice and hatred based on class, nationality, and religious distinctions. The people lived with permanent categories that divided and separated them into Gentiles or Jews, free or slave, rich or poor, and Greek or barbarian. 

James 2 (Common English Bible)

 My brothers and sisters, when you show favoritism you deny the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has been resurrected in glory. 2 Imagine two people coming into your meeting. One has a gold ring and fine clothes, while the other is poor, dressed in filthy rags. 3 Then suppose that you were to take special notice of the one wearing fine clothes, saying, “Here’s an excellent place. Sit here.” But to the poor person you say, “Stand over there”; or, “Here, sit at my feet.” 4 Wouldn’t you have shown favoritism among yourselves and become evil-minded judges?

5 My dear brothers and sisters, listen! Hasn’t God chosen those who are poor by worldly standards to be rich in terms of faith? Hasn’t God chosen the poor as heirs of the kingdom he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Don’t the wealthy make life difficult for you? Aren’t they the ones who drag you into court? 7 Aren’t they the ones who insult the good name spoken over you at your baptism?

James’ letter attempts to break down these walls for the newly formed Christian community. His goal was to encourage them to see themselves as one race of believers under God. Paul echoed this sentiment in Ephesians 2:14-15 where he wrote that Jesus “made both Jews and Gentiles into one group”. 

But unity was a radical and shocking idea, much like the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s was in our time. James had to break down the notion that partiality should be shown to the rich and introduce the idea that richness in faith is the greater ideal. The poor were more likely to have this richness of faith because they had more opportunities to trust God and less obstacles to overcome than the rich. Indeed, the rich young ruler who questioned Jesus about how to get into heaven learned this the hard way (Matthew 19:16-22). 

Jesus came to be poor and lived his entire life in poverty. Putting too much stock in material wealth and “gold rings” is antithetical to a faith system that values the heart over appearance (1 Samuel 16:7). God isn’t partial to the rich. Neither should we be.

As we continue along in our Lent contemplations this week, it is good to pause and ask ourselves questions.How do you define richness? Are you pursuing richness in faith?

Richness in faith comes through trust in God and adherence to God’s Word. May we linger on that today.

“A bird, a turtle, and an alligator walk onto a bar …”

Not Fair-You-See

Posted on by Betsy

This morning we return to the story of a blind man who was healed by Jesus by mixing dirt and spit together and putting it on the man’s eyes. Our focus today is on the blindness of the Pharisees. You will quickly see that they live up to their name and are not fair-you-see. (Google “I Just Wanna Be a Sheep” for further explanation.)

John 9 (The Message)

13-15 They marched the man to the Pharisees. This day when Jesus made the paste and healed his blindness was the Sabbath. The Pharisees grilled him again on how he had come to see. He said, “He put a clay paste on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.”

16 Some of the Pharisees said, “Obviously, this man can’t be from God. He doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” Others countered, “How can a bad man do miraculous, God-revealing things like this?” There was a split in their ranks.

17 They came back at the blind man, “You’re the expert. He opened your eyes. What do you say about him?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

24 They called the man back a second time—the man who had been blind—and told him, “Give credit to God. We know this man is an impostor.”

25 He replied, “I know nothing about that one way or the other. But I know one thing for sure: I was blind . . . I now see.” 26 They said, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

27 “I’ve told you over and over and you haven’t listened. Why do you want to hear it again? Are you so eager to become his disciples?”

28-29 With that they jumped all over him. “You might be a disciple of that man, but we’re disciples of Moses. We know for sure that God spoke to Moses, but we have no idea where this man even comes from.” 

30-33 The man replied, “This is amazing! You claim to know nothing about him, but the fact is, he opened my eyes! It’s well known that God isn’t at the beck and call of sinners but listens carefully to anyone who lives in reverence and does his will. That someone opened the eyes of a man born blind has never been heard of—ever. If this man didn’t come from God, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

34 They said, “You’re nothing but dirt! How dare you take that tone with us!” Then they threw him out in the street.

So immediately the crowd started to buzz about the miracle and begin to deny what was evident right before their very eyes. “Wasn’t this the blind man?” “No, it couldn’t be the blind man. It just looks like him!” So even though he gave a clear account of what Jesus had done, they couldn’t see it for what it was and dragged the man before the Pharisees.

The Pharisees, you recall, suffered with their own kind of blindness. It was a spiritual blindness to the needs of the community due to their laser point focus on the Law. The word Pharisee comes from the Hebrew word “perushim” meaning separated. They separated themselves from everyone else by living in strict accord of the sacred writings and the oral traditions that laid down very exact rules for living. They hoped to keep their religion pure and wanted to ward off any influence of pagan and gentile thought and culture.

But it isn’t an overstatement to suggest that sometimes they carried this too far and their rigidity blinded them to the acts of God that were happening all around them. Because of this blindness, they were highly offended that Jesus healed on the Sabbath, which broke the Law, even going so far as to proclaim that this alone disqualified Jesus from being a “man of God,” for surely someone truly sent by God would have let the blind man remain blind in order to honor the Sabbath. In their self-righteousness, they were totally blind to compassion, humanity, and God’s priorities for his people.

The story ends with Jesus finding the man again after his argument with the Pharisees has landed him out on the street. Now we need to remember that the last time they were together, the man walked away to the pool with mud pies on his eyes, so he had not seen Jesus until that very moment. When he put the voice to the face, he recognized that he was seeing Jesus for the first time, he cried out “I believe!” Seeing is believing, but also believing is seeing.

Friends, Lent is all about seeing God more clearly. Lent is a good time to do an “I” exam. Lent teaches us to look for God in ordinary places and things like mud and spit and water. Lent adjusts and sharpens the lens of God’s healing power and what we must do to help ourselves get better, physically, spiritually, relationally, and nationally. Lent invites us into a pool of purification so that we might be cleansed and sent. Do you see what I’m talking about?

What are you being blind to? What situation in your family, your workplace, your neighborhood, or your nation are you deliberately not seeing that is crying out for your help? Where do you need corrective lenses so that you can see what God sees?

Today is a good to open your eyes. May God bring clarity and direction to our sight.

Do You See What I See?

The True Meaning of Family

Posted on by Betsy

I need to confess to you that there have been times in my ministry when I let frustration get the better of me. One time in particular stands out in my memory. A week before Thanksgiving I received a phone call from the adult daughter of one of our elderly couples. She called to inquire about our Care Ministry and asked if someone could go to her parent’s house on Thanksgiving and take them a home cooked turkey dinner. Our Care Ministry is always responsive to any kind of need, but I was hesitant to ask someone to leave their family on Thanksgiving day to do this task. The parents were mobile enough to attend worship every Sunday, so I asked if one of them was sick or if something had happened. No, she responded, I just want them to have a nice Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday.

I knew that this daughter lived in Virginia, less than an hour’s drive, so I asked her if she had plans to see her parents over the long weekend. She responded that she was hosting Thanksgiving dinner for her golf buddies and their spouses and couldn’t possibly get down to her parent’s house. She got a little annoyed at my questions and said, “I thought that was what the church is for!! I just want them to have a nice home cooked turkey dinner on Thanksgiving day!!” I told her that we would deliver a meal on Wednesday, but if she wanted them to have a nice home cooked dinner on Thursday, perhaps she could drive down and get them so they could join her party. I’m pretty sure she hung up on me at that point.

She thought that is what the church is for. I thought that is what family is for. I found out the following Sunday when I saw the parents at church that they had enjoyed a Thanksgiving buffet at a local restaurant and their daughter had surprised them on Friday by bringing them her leftovers. As pleased as they were, I was sad that all the daughter could muster was dropping off day-old leftovers.

John 9 (The Message)

6-7 Jesus said this and then spit in the dust, made a clay paste with the saliva, rubbed the paste on the blind man’s eyes, and said, “Go, wash at the Pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “Sent”). The man went and washed—and saw.

8 Soon the town was buzzing. His relatives and those who year after year had seen him as a blind man begging were saying, “Why, isn’t this the man we knew, who sat here and begged?”

9 Others said, “It’s him all right!” But others objected, “It’s not the same man at all. It just looks like him.” He said, “It’s me, the very one.”

10 They said, “How did your eyes get opened?”

11 “A man named Jesus made a paste and rubbed it on my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ I did what he said. When I washed, I saw.”

12 “So where is he?” “I don’t know.”

While the town was buzzing about who this man was and what was happening, Jesus had simply seen the man’s anguish and mixed some dust and clay and spit together and made a miracle happen. He sent the man off to the pool at Siloam to wash. This was the pool that was used to purify pilgrims before entering the Temple. The word Siloam means “sent”… here is Jesus, the one sent by God, sending the man off to the pool to then be sent back bright-eyed into the world to bring a word of testimony. And it is significant that the man has to actively participate in his healing. He has to accept the help offered and collaborate with Jesus in his miracle. 

The disciples and the crowd made a lot assumptions about the man’s identity and were totally blind to the need that stood before them. But I found it very unsettling to read in verse 9 that there were relatives among the crowd. And then later in the chapter in verse 18 we discover that this blind beggar has parents in town. This makes me pause and wonder why nobody in the family could house and feed this man so that he didn’t have to beg for a living. Like the daughter at Thanksgiving, they acted like it was somebody else’s job.

And that then makes me wonder if there are times in our lives when we are deliberately blind to a need in our own families that we could potentially meet but decide instead to just look away. It is a good moment right here to ask yourself if you are choosing to be blind to a relative who needs your help, and what could you be doing do to alleviate their distress? Are you going to be like this crowd, or like Jesus?

Open your eyes.

Glad I Saw Him Before He Saw Me

Blame Game

Posted on by Betsy

For the brave among us, turning on any of the “news” programs is like watching an extended version of the blame game. It is never anybody’s fault anymore. Actions and words that are on film and on the record are denied the minute the tide changes and what was said or done no longer fits the current agenda. It boggles the mind how callous and deceitful people can be. Rather than stand up for what they said or did, the finger immediately comes out and they point to their enemy with emphatic “It wasn’t me. I didn’t do it. They are the ones that did wrong.” Like two young brothers trying to avoid punishment for hitting each other, they deflect responsibility and falsely accuse the other of the crime. And it’s just as childish.

In our Scripture today, we witness the miracle of Jesus’ healing a blind man with the simple elements of dirt and spit. One would think that this incredible, mind blowing thing would have people on their knees in awe and wonder. But other things take precedence, like trying to figure out who to blame for his blindness.

John 9: 1-41 (The Message)

 1-2 Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?”

3-5 Jesus said, “You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world’s Light.”

We need to remember that in those times, disabilities like blindness were thought to be the result of sin. The Jewish understanding of the Levitical blessings and curses detailed in Leviticus 26 led them to believe that disobedience to God’s Word resulted in physical impairments. But even with that background, it is very disappointing to read that the disciples’ first reaction was to try to assess blame rather than to see how they might be able to help the man. They imply that the sin that led to the man’s blindness might even be the result of his parent’s sin, since he was blind from birth. 

I love Jesus’ immediate reaction. His sharp response left no room for interpretation. “You’re asking the wrong question.” They tried to impose their faulty theology on the situation when what the situation actually called for compassion and action.

I’m sure all of us are guilty of asking the wrong question from time to time. I remembered a scene from the old Pink Panther movie that illustrates this and still makes me laugh. Inspector Jacques Clouseau is checking into a hotel and there is a dog at the registration desk. 

Clouseau asks, “Does your dog bite?” The Hotel Clerk responds “No.” Clouseau bows down to pet the dog. “Nice doggie.” And immediately the dog barks and bites Clouseau’s hand.

Clouseau says,  “I thought you said your dog did not bite!” The Hotel Clerk responds, “That is not my dog.” Poor Clouseau! He asked the wrong question.

When we come upon someone who needs our help, maybe it is better and more Christ-like to ask, “How can I help” rather than, “How did you end up in this situation?” What we see can be severely clouded by our assumptions. We hear that someone has lung cancer, and we assume they are a heavy smoker. We see a teenager get arrested and we assume it is a result of bad parenting. We hear that someone got fired, and we speculate about what they did something to deserve it. We read a bad review of a doctor on Facebook, and we assume they are at fault.

Blame-casting and making assumptions have very little value when they replace just looking at situations with unbiased eyes and trying to see what God sees.

The challenge for us today is to be better than the disciples in this story and start asking the right questions. Next time you see someone in need, ask God to show you what he sees, and ask him to show you how you can help. Lent asks us this question: Can you see what God sees? Or do you need God to heal you of your blindness?

I See the Moon and the Moon Sees Me by Michelle Robertson